Department for Transport

Heathrow Airport

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total economic benefit to each region from expansion at Heathrow Airport.

Mr John Hayes: The Government’s latest estimate, published on 2 February, was that a new runway at Heathrow will deliver benefits to passengers and the wider UK economy of up to £61 billion. Regions across the country should benefit from new destinations, extra seats and increased frequency of service created by increased capacity at Heathrow. As part of the consultation on the draft Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) the government was clear that further work was underway to update the evidence base, including revised aviation demand forecasts. The Secretary of State for Transport announced on 7 September that there is a need to conduct a short period of further consultation to allow this updated evidence to be taken into account.

Department for Transport: Domestic Visits

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) parliamentary constituencies he visited and (b) hon. Members he met with in their constituencies during the 2017 summer recess; what the dates were of those visits; and which proposed or current transport schemes he visited in that period.

Mr John Hayes: The information requested is in the table below. DateParliamentary Constituencies VisitedHon. Members Met With In Their ConstituenciesProposed or Current Transport Schemes VisitedFriday 21st JulyWythenshawe & Sale EastMike Kane MP (Wythenshawe & Sale East)Manchester AirportThursday 3rd AugustSouthampton Itchen; FarehamN/APort of Southampton; NATSMonday 7th AugustCambridge; Cambridgeshire South; Bedfordshire North East; Mid Bedfordshire; BedfordN/ACambridge North station; East-West Rail route optionsWednesday 9th AugustPoplar & Limehouse; West HamN/AN/AThursday 10th AugustBirmingham, Ladywood; VauxhallMike Wood MP (Dudley South)Birmingham New Street station; area around M6 J6; London Waterloo stationThursday 31st AugustBexleyheath and Crayford; Erith & ThamesmeadDavid Evennett MP (Bexleyheath and Crayford); Teresa Pearce MP (Erith & Thamesmead)Area around Abbey Wood Crossrail station

Railways: Wales

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of electrification of the railway line (a) in the Severn Tunnel, (b) between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff Central station, (c) between Cardiff Central Station and Bridgend, (d) between Bridgend and Port Talbot Parkway, (e) between Port Talbot Parkway and Neath and (f) between Neath and Swansea; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail is delivering the Great Western Electrification Programme to the dates set out in the latest publication of their Enhancement Delivery plan. This includes completing electrification of the Great Western Mainline to Cardiff Central by December 2018. The recent National Audit Office’s report states that electrification is expected to cost £2.8 billion. Network Rail have advised the Department that expenditure on the mainline between Cardiff and Swansea has yet to be finalised.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent the deliberate use of drones to disrupt transport.

Mr John Hayes: The Government takes the safety risks of drones to transport very seriously. We have already taken action on the misuse of drones by improving enforcement of the law, resulting in several successful drone prosecutions. Following consultation, the Government announced in July that it will introduce a registration scheme to increase the accountability of users, explore the potential of raising penalties for current offences and review the powers available to law enforcement agencies to enforce the law. In addition, the flying of drones near sensitive sites is already prohibited. Government has been undertaking a programme of work aimed at improving our defences against drones, with a focus on sensitive and important locations and events. This includes exploration of technological options to detect and counter drones, with trials and demonstrations taking place in order to examine the applicability of various technological options to do so.

Stirling Station

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received an application to the Access for All programme for funding for platform nine at Stirling station; and if he will meet the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire the effect of lack of accessibility at that station on residents of Ochil and South Perthshire constituency.

Paul Maynard: Stirling station was included in the original Access for All programme but no solution to provide access to every platform could be found. The funding was therefore reallocated to other stations in Scotland. We are seeking new money to extend Access for All beyond 2019. If this is successful we will be asking the industry for new station nominations next year.

Railway Track

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of railway track is located in each region of England and Wales.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail have informed me that there is over 20,000 miles of track in total in the UK; with Scotland having 2,800 track miles, and Wales having over 1,400 track miles As a proportion by Government region, Network Rail has provided the following information: RegionProportion (%)RegionProportion (%)East Midlands8South East15Eastern9South West8London8Wales6North East3West Midlands8North West11Yorkshire and the Humber10Scotland14 It should be noted that railway track in each region is utilised to different intensities. For example in 2015/16 there were 537,369 thousand rail passenger journeys within the London region which was almost six times more journeys than within the North West region.

Arriva Trains Wales: Rebates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department received from Arriva Trains Wales in rebates in each year since that franchise has been in operation.

Paul Maynard: Since 2009/10 the Department has received annual rebates from Arriva Train Wales. Following a Control Period 4 adjustment for track access charges, payments of approximately £30 million per annum were made to the Department between 2009/10 and 2013/14 inclusive. A further Control Period 5 adjustment for track access charges led to rebates of approximately £60m in 2014/15, £68m in 2015/16 and £70m in 2016/17.

Railways: Electrification

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of railway track were electrified in each region of England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: The Office of Rail and Road publish railway infrastructure statistics, which contain the length of electrified route in Great Britain (including Scotland). The table below gives total electrified route length from 2009-10 to 2015-16. Network Rail manage the infrastructure, but they geographically organise the network by ‘Routes’ rather than by region, therefore this information is not available by region. Route and Track Miles of the rail network in Great Britain. Source: ORRYearRoute miles electrified2009-103,2562010-113,2702011-123,2702012-133,2722013-143,2742014-153,2772015-16*3,313*Provisional.The above table shows that 57 route miles were electrified between 2009-10 and 2015-16. However, the figures above just show completed electrification works and so do not take account of the many more route miles which are in the process of being electrified. Various schemes ongoing across the country include: o The 120 mile Great Western Main Line route between London and Cardiff (of which the 12 mile section from West Drayton to Maidenhead was recently turned on)o 49 mile route from Blackpool North to Manchester Piccadillyo Just under 17 miles route from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley-o 13 mile route from Gospel Oak to Barkingo Just over 4 miles at Bromsgrove-o 1 mile at the Orsdall Chord All of the above is much more than the 10 miles electrified by Labour in 13 years.

Railway Track

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of new railway track were laid in each region of England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: The Office of Rail and Road publish railway infrastructure statistics, which contain the total length of track in Great Britain (including Scotland) by year. This information is available here: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/c35e0c28-324f-4168-81b9-be197963f251 This information is not available by region. The year-on-year change in track length is the net change of new track added minus length of track closed. Therefore, a year-on-year increase does not necessarily equal the total length of new track added. Network Rail manage the infrastructure, but they geographically organise the network by ‘Routes’ rather than by region, therefore this information is not available by region. Track Miles of the rail network in Great Britain. Source: ORRYearTotal track miles2009-1019,3122010-1119,3342011-1219,3062012-1319,3132013-1419,3242014-1519,3412015-16*19,387*Provisional.

Railways: Infrastructure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was invested in improving railway infrastructure in each region of England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: Figures on public sector spend at a regional and national level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. CRA statistics for all capital expenditure by central and local governments and other public bodies on rail transport are provided in the table below. The benefits from this spend on transport interventions will often accrue to passengers far beyond the residents of the immediate local area or region. This is particularly the case for spending on the railways which connect cities and regions across the country and delivery broader benefits beyond the region concerned. Whilst the CRA attempts to allocate expenditure on the basis of which region benefits from the spend, rather than where it is made, inevitably allocations are not always precise. Regarding spend in London, London has a substantial number of daily commuters and visitors, both domestically and internationally, who will be using and benefitting from the public transport networks in London but who aren’t residents in London. The unique scale and urban density of London by comparison to other parts of the country also means that it is particularly adapted to large scale public transport networks. Public expenditure (capital) on rail by year and region, from 2009-10. Source: HMT. Nominal values in £ millionsRegion 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16North East115109147156145148177North West463454791729662616919Yorkshire and the Humber331322357367359333600East Midlands171160226183157180308West Midlands267258343300318427580East308295389430432582862London2,3672,3842,7273,0283,2593,8865,164South East6336406707477348011,187South West239229215225210219357Wales196186210222210238320

Airports: EU Countries

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has made to other EU member states on easing waiting times at their airports.

Mr John Hayes: Both Ministers and officials of my Department have been in contact with other EU Member States regarding the increased queuing times at passport controls at Schengen borders. Whilst acknowledging the importance of security at the borders, we have urged the governments to do their utmost to ensure that the queuing times are kept as quick as possible.

Railways: Finance

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the equitable distribution of rail funding.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport published its Transport Investment Strategy on the 5th July 2017, which describes new rebalancing measures to deliver a stronger, fairer Britain. We want to ensure that transport investment programmes, including rail, contribute to a more balanced economy, increase productivity or growth, support new housing, improve reliability and tackle congestion. As described in the Strategy, the Department is developing a new assessment standard that will require investment programmes to be judged on how they contribute towards creating a more balanced economy, as part of the overall assessment of their strategic case.

Railways: Huddersfield

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to increase railway links from Huddersfield to other towns in the north of England.

Paul Maynard: In terms of infrastructure, we are currently working with Rail North and Network Rail to develop very significant improvements for rail passengers on the Transpennine route with phased introduction from December 2022. The upgrade aims to deliver major reductions in journey times, the ability to run more frequent and longer trains offering more seats on both long distance and local services and improvements to overall performance on the whole route. Huddersfield will be in the heart of our plans to improve access on the Transpennine route. In addition, the new Northern and Transpennine franchises which commenced in April 2016 will deliver an unprecedented package of improvements including more than 500 new carriages, room for 40,000 extra passengers and more than 2,000 extra services a week. By 2020 all the trains will be brand new or completely refurbished, and all the Pacer trains will be gone. Planned service improvements specifically for Huddersfield include: new trains, and longer trains, with more seats and of higher quality – including free Wi-Fi, at-seat power sockets and real-time passenger information; increased number of morning peak seats by more than 50% into Manchester and Leeds; more weekend services with some earlier starts and later finishes; an extension of North TransPennine services to Edinburgh; and increased number of direct services to Hull and Newcastle.

Railways: Electrification

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which planned rail electrification projects have been cancelled in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Maynard: In the last seven years we have electrified more than 50 route miles and many more route miles are in the process of being electrified. This is much more than the 10 miles electrified by Labour in 13 years. As my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State said on 20 July, however, technology is advancing quickly, and this means that we no longer need to electrify every line to achieve the same significant improvements to journeys. Details on the sections of railway line where electrification is no longer considered necessary are contained in my Rt Hon Friend’s statement of 20 July.

Railways: Electrification

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average savings in travel time were from each rail electrification project in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Maynard: No time has been saved by the electrification alone. Some of the routes have had major route upgrades, including line speed improvements, which has benefitted diesel trains as well as electric ones. The core purpose of electrification is not normally for speed Examples of this are between London and Edinburgh, where diesel and electric trains are scheduled in the same journey time.

Railways: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the National Rail projects in Wales which were (a) finished on time and on budget and (b) not finished on time and on budget in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Maynard: The Wales route was only created in 2011, so data prior to this is not available. I have asked Network Rail to collate the information and provide this directly to the Honourable Member.

Wales and Borders Rail Franchise

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales have in the design, content, tendering and award of the next Wales and Borders and Metro franchise.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers his Department has in the design, content, tendering and award of the next Wales and Borders and Metro franchise.

Paul Maynard: Agreement in principle was reached with the Welsh Government last year that they would be given a combination of statutory executive franchising functions within Wales, and agency powers of the Secretary of State in relation to the English component of the franchise, in order that that they could procure and manage a new franchise of similar geographic scope, while ensuring the Secretary of State’s accountability for rail operations within England.In order to facilitate the timely progression of the Welsh Government’s procurement, the Secretary of State entered into the first of a planned series of agency agreements with Welsh Ministers in October last year. Each agreement will set out relevant conditions to protect the Secretary of State’s interests in the English component of the franchise (including the English component of cross-border services). The Government also continues to progress the transfer of functions Order to give effect to the transfer to Welsh Ministers of executive franchising functions in Wales.The Department is actively and constructively engaging with Welsh Government to both protect the Secretary of State’s interests and enable them to achieve a successful procurement of the next Wales & Borders franchise from October 2018.

Railways: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an agreement has been reached on the proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines to the Welsh Government.

Paul Maynard: The Welsh Government has been working closely with Network Rail to agree the principles for the proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines. Such transfer is supported in principle by the government, subject to final agreement and recommendation of approval by Network Rail.

Railways: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the role is of the Office of Rail and Road in any proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines to the Welsh Government.

Paul Maynard: The Office of Rail and Road is the statutory economic and safety regulator for the rail industry in Great Britain. In relation to the proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines, its role will be to ensure that the transfer does not prejudice the interests of other rail industry parties and that the subsequent operator of the Valley Lines infrastructure has in place all necessary licences and other authorisations to ensure that operates in a safe and efficient manner, in the public interest.

Railways: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of the risk associated with the proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines to the Welsh Government.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail has been considering carefully the risks associated with the proposed transfer of ownership of the Valley Lines. Both it and the Welsh Government have been developing an agreement based upon Network Rail being held harmless for the direct impacts upon its business of the proposed transfer.

Driving Tests

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to reform the driving test to highlight the risks of harm to cyclists and motorbike riders of people opening car doors without looking to see who is approaching from behind.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) includes “Checking for oncoming cyclists, pedestrians and other traffic before opening the car door” as part of its National Standards for driving. In addition, DVSA covers the safe method of opening car doors in the Instructional Ability element of its Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) qualification process. This ensures that ADIs teach this method to novice drivers.

Rolling Stock

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has for the future use of Class 707 trains which South Western Railway plan to stop using in 2019.

Paul Maynard: Once released by South Western railway, the trains will be returned to their owner (Angel Trains Ltd) who will be responsible for finding a future operator to lease the trains.

Travel: Greater London

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people who hold a disabled person's freedom pass live in London; how many people who hold an older person's freedom pass live in London; and how many rail passengers there were in London in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The Freedom Pass is managed by London Councils and the policy on who is entitled to hold one is a matter for the Mayor. The Department does not hold statistics on how many Freedom Pass holders there are. Rail passenger journeys to/from and within London are published by Office of Rail and Road here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/4277ce6b-bdf3-4562-a6b1-eb036b57f065 The total number of passenger journeys (within London and to and from London) in thousands in the last five years available is as follows: 2015/2016: 934,5882014/2015: 878,0422013/2014: 834,5282012/2013: 787,4712011/2012: 752,226

Railways: Passengers

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's paper, Rail passenger numbers and crowding statistics: 2016 report, published on 27 July 2017, what assessment his Department has made of (a) future crowding on South West Mainline into Waterloo and (b) the effect of Crossrail 2 on those figures.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport has recently published its High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for rail which sets out demand forecasts for years 2018/19 and 2023/24. These forecasts are published at Table 2 of Annex A, which could be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630675/high-level-output-specification-print.pdf These forecasts are for peak hour and peak 3 hour demand on all South West Trains services into Waterloo. For the peak three hours, the arrivals into Waterloo are 119,100 and rises to 123,500 by 2023/24. That is why we are currently investing in the Waterloo and South West upgrade programme, which will provide space for 30 per cent more passengers during the busiest times of the day.  The Government recognises the case for further capacity improvements in London and the South East, such as those that Crossrail 2 could deliver. We are currently considering TfL’s business case for the proposal, which contains analysis of the impact Crossrail 2 could have on crowding across London and the South East.

Home Office

Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how and when she plans to report on the findings of the review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

Mr Nick Hurd: We will be publishing the review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 shortly.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU citizens applied for leave to remain in the UK in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office does not publish data on any in country applications for leave from EU nationals, but does publish information on a small number of out of country visa applications and grants. The latest published data can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017/list-of-tables#visas EU nationals benefit from a right to reside in the UK which is derived from Directive 2004/38/EC (‘the Free Movement Directive’), as implemented by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. This legislation does not require EU nationals to hold any form of leave under the UK’s domestic Immigration Rules in order to remain in the UK. However, they can apply for leave to remain if they wish.

West Yorkshire Police: Mental Health Services

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to West Yorkshire Police of providing support to people with mental health needs.

Mr Nick Hurd: The allocation of resources is an operational decision for Chief Constables, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners. The information is not held centrally by the Home Office.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that police forces and chief constables enforce Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in relation to the combatting of illegal Travellers' sites.

Mr Nick Hurd: There are a range of existing powers available for both the police and local authorities to tackle unauthorised encampments. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 provides specific powers to the police to move travellers from unauthorised encampments if certain criteria are met. The Home Office works closely with the police to ensure the powers they have are fit for purpose. However, the decision on when and whether to use police powers is an independent operational decision for the police.

Police: Pay

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the advice given by her Department's representative on the Police Staff Council on the one per cent public sector pay cap at meetings of that Council since the 2011 Autumn Statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has been clear on its policy on public sector pay since the 2011 Autumn Statement. Home Office representatives attend Police Staff Council and have reflected that position over time. Police staff pay awards are not subject to approval by the Home Secretary or any other representative of the Home Office.

Offences against Children: Internet

Kit Malthouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of online child grooming have been received by the police in each of the last five years; and how many convictions for online child grooming have been made in each such year.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects information from police forces on the number of police recorded offences that have an online element. The online flag became mandatory from April 2015 therefore data prior to this are not available. Information on the number of child sexual offences flagged as having an online element are published as experimental statistics in the ONS ‘Crime in England and Wales’ quarterly bulletins. The ‘child sexual offences’ category includes sexual grooming. Information on sexual grooming is not separately published. These data can be found in table E12 of the experimental tables on the ONS website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesexperimentaltables. The Home Office does not hold information on the number of online child grooming offences which have led to prosecutions. The Ministry of Justice are responsible for prosecutions data.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU nationals of each nationality have been prevented from entering the UK since 2010; and what the reasons were for their entry being refused.

Brandon Lewis: It is not possible to provide figures as to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU nationals of each ethnic group have been prevented from entering the UK since 2010; and what the reasons were for their entry being refused.

Brandon Lewis: Border Force does not record ethnicity details for those prevented from entering the UK. Therefore it is not possible to establish this information.

Stop and Search

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of stop and searches involved (a) foreign and (b) British nationals; and what proportion of each such category resulted in an arrest in the last year for which information is available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold information on the nationality of individuals stopped and searched. The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of stop and searches, and the number of resultant arrests, conducted by each police force in England and Wales. Data are broken down by the reason for the search, and the ethnicity of the person being searched, but not on the nationality of the individual. These data are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, where data for the year ending March 2016 can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2016 The next release of ‘Police Powers’ statistics is due to be published in October, for the year ending March 2017.

Arrests

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of arrests of (a) foreign and (b) British nationals resulted in a prosecution in the last year for which information is available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold centrally information on the nationality of individuals arrested. The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests broken down by offence group, gender, age group and ethnicity. These data are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, where data for the year ending March 2016 can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2016 The Home Office does not hold centrally information on the number of arrests that led to a prosecution. Data on prosecutions are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. The next release of ‘Police Powers’ statistics is due to be published in October, for the year ending March 2017.

Asylum: Applications

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed in her Department to process asylum claims and clear the backlog of cases.

Brandon Lewis: Decisions on asylum claims are made by Decision Makers within the Asylum Intake and Casework Unit and the Home Office has rolling recruitment campaigns to ensure the number of Decision Makers are maintained at a level that allows the Home Office to progress cases in line with service standards.

Female Genital Mutilation

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is a national or local register of organisations and people who are promoting the ending of FGM.

Sarah Newton: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. Whilst there is no national or local register of organisations and people who are promoting the ending of FGM, the Home Office FGM Unit leads on cross-government action to tackle FGM and regularly engages with a range of trusted external partners through a quarterly FGM stakeholder meeting, an Honour Based Violence enforcement meeting and an ongoing programme of nationwide outreach to support local areas and to raise awareness of the guidance and resources available for professionals in their work to end FGM. In addition, FGM forms an integral part of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which is overseen by an Inter-Ministerial Group chaired by the Home Secretary. FGM is a complex issue which demands a co-ordinated, multi-agency response from a range of professionals including teachers, health professionals, social workers and the police. That is why in April 2016 we published multi-agency guidance on FGM which was made statutory for the first time to support professionals to understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and to respond effectively in cases of FGM. The guidance stresses the collaborative effort required to tackle FGM and to protect women and girls at risk.

Female Genital Mutilation

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms the Government employs to liaise with external organisations in tackling FGM; who the chief points of contact are (a) nationally and (b) regionally for that liaison; and who outside Government is responsible for leading on work to end FGM.

Sarah Newton: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. Whilst there is no national or local register of organisations and people who are promoting the ending of FGM, the Home Office FGM Unit leads on cross-government action to tackle FGM and regularly engages with a range of trusted external partners through a quarterly FGM stakeholder meeting, an Honour Based Violence enforcement meeting and an ongoing programme of nationwide outreach to support local areas and to raise awareness of the guidance and resources available for professionals in their work to end FGM. In addition, FGM forms an integral part of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which is overseen by an Inter-Ministerial Group chaired by the Home Secretary. FGM is a complex issue which demands a co-ordinated, multi-agency response from a range of professionals including teachers, health professionals, social workers and the police. That is why in April 2016 we published multi-agency guidance on FGM which was made statutory for the first time to support professionals to understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and to respond effectively in cases of FGM. The guidance stresses the collaborative effort required to tackle FGM and to protect women and girls at risk.

Home Office: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to promote whistleblowing in her Department and agencies.

Sarah Newton: The Department’s revised ‘Whistleblowing and Raising a Concern’ policy was launched in November 2015 and improved access for staff to raise any concerns. The department operates a confidential central reporting hotline and email address. This is complimented by a network of officials, known as Nominated Officers, who provide support and advice to staff and through which concerns can be raised. The department runs staff communication campaigns each year to encourage employees to raise relevant concerns, explaining the options for doing so and the protections in place. The next campaign is due later this month.

Motorcycles: Helmets

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to encourage police forces to pursue suspects on mopeds and motorcycles who are not wearing crash helmets.

Mr Nick Hurd: Decisions as to whether to initiate or continue any pursuit are operational ones for the police, balancing the public interest in apprehending suspected criminals against the need to avoid the death or serious injury of any road users.The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice on Road Policing makes clear that “There may be a public interest in engaging motorcycles and quads in pursuits. Where such vehicles are used to facilitate serious crime or used repeatedly as the mode of transport for organised crime groups then, to minimise risk to the public from criminality and to secure public confidence in policing, a pursuit may be justified. Careful consideration must be given to the risks involved and the [National Decision Model] must be applied in the decision making process.”

Police Community Support Officers: Wolverhampton

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police community support officers have been recruited to cover Wolverhampton in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of police community support officers (PCSOs) who join the police workforce, as standard direct recruits, by police force area level only. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. The latest figures, published in July, are for the year to 31 March 2017. Data on the number of PCSOs who joined West Midlands police for the years 2006/07 to 2016/17 can be found in the Police workforce: Joiners Open Data Tables, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-open-data-tables

Home Office: Official Engagements

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list of her official engagements since the commencement of the current Parliament when the constituency's hon. Member was (a) invited and (b) not invited.

Amber Rudd: The Home Office publishes details of meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis on gov.uk. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-january-to-march-2017. My office notifies Members when I am attending an official event in their constituency, in accordance with paragraph 10.9 of the Ministerial Code.

Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody Independent Review

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2017 to Question 4201, what the reasons are for the delay in the publication of the independent review into deaths and serious incidents in police custody.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government-commissioned Independent Review into Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody is a thorough and detailed work and the findings and recommendations are being carefully considered by Government, ahead of its publication.

Home Office: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department's staff had a pay increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Sarah Newton: This PQ can only be responded to fully at a disproportionate cost as data held includes other salary increases (e.g. promotion increases) besides the annual pay award increases. The average increase received by Home Office Staff was an average of 1% in each of the those years. The attached table shows the minimum and maximum increases received by the majority of staff in 2015, 2016 & 2017. Some staff may have received higher increases as part of on-going pay reform.



Pay Increases Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 7.78 KB)

Offences against Children: Inquiries

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Government-commissioned or run inquiries into child sexual abuse are open; and what the (a) start and (b) projected end dates are of those inquiries.

Sarah Newton: The Government set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in March 2015 to look at the extent to which institutions in England and Wales have discharged their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. The terms of reference do not specify an end date, although the Inquiry Chair has said that she is determined that the Inquiry makes substantial progress by 2020.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the principle set out in paragraph 5.3.6 of the Government's cyber Security Strategy that everyone who works in government has a sound awareness of cyber risk applies to members of staff employed by contractors doing work procured by his Department.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is committed to ensuring that contractors and their staff have a sound awareness of cyber risk matters and they take all necessary safeguards to protect the department’s information.Where relevant, cyber security awareness, the need to ensure contractual compliance with Information Assurance standards such as ISO 27001:2013 certification and “Cyber Essentials/ Plus” is included in contract specifications and reviewed as part of the evaluation process. Contractors must comply with the department’s IT security policies and procedures.

New Businesses: Stafford

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many new companies were started in Stafford constituency in each of the last three years.

Margot James: The Office for National Statistics has published user requested statistics regarding the number of enterprise “births” in UK Parliamentary Constituencies. A “birth” occurs when a business appears on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, following registration for either VAT or PAYE.The following table gives “births” in the Stafford Parliamentary Constituency for the most recent three years available. Stafford Parliamentary Constituency 2013 - 4052014 - 4152015 - 380

Tidal Power: Swansea Bay

Andrew Bowie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to make a decision on the Swansea Tidal Lagoon project.

Richard Harrington: The Government is considering the findings of the independent Hendry Review before deciding, in light of the relevant factors, its position on the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.

Energy: Rented Housing

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to amend minimum energy standards for rented homes.

Claire Perry: The Department is working to ensure the domestic private rented property minimum energy efficiency regulations are implemented as effectively as possible. We expect to provide further details shortly, including through publishing guidance on implementing the regulations.

Energy: Prices

Mr Simon Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the profit margins of distribution network operators affect the cost of energy.

Richard Harrington: Electricity and gas networks are the transportation systems which convey energy from where it is produced or imported to homes and businesses. Network costs make up around a quarter of the average dual fuel bill.Network companies are regulated by Ofgem in order to ensure that companies deliver a safe, reliable network whilst investing for the future and providing value for money for customers.The regulation process is a matter for the independent regulator Ofgem and, by law, must be administered independently of Government.

Energy: Meters

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what checks are in place to ensure the safe installation of smart meters.

Richard Harrington: Safety is the primary concern of the smart metering programme. Energy suppliers are responsible for installing smart meters and are required to comply with a number of regulations and other requirements that relate to the safety of installations and appliances. These include the Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations (1998), the Meter Asset Managers’ Code of Practice (MAMCoP) and the Meter Operators Code of Practice Agreement (MOCOPA) which set out the roles, responsibilities and expectations of meter installers when safety issues are identified during meter installation visits.The Government have also put in place additional requirements through the Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP) which require energy suppliers to ensure that installers are appropriately trained. Engineers fitting smart meters undergo extensive training and testing to achieve the level of skills and qualifications necessary. They are then mentored by experienced colleagues, their work is audited, and they are subjected to regular spot checks to ensure the highest standards are upheld.

Companies: Ownership

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies registered their beneficial ownership information with Companies House by the 30 June 2017 deadline.

Margot James: 3,628,041 companies registered their beneficial ownership information by the deadline. This figure is based on data available on 5 July 2017 to ensure that paper filed documents submitted by the 30 June deadline had been processed.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 6201, if he will meet a trustee from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme to discuss the surplus-sharing arrangement.

Richard Harrington: BEIS officials meet the Scheme Trustees regularly to discuss scheme administration and have begun to share objectives for the forthcoming scheme valuation.

Metals: Recycling

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support metal-recycling companies.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 12 September 2017



The Government remains committed to a healthy and growing metals industry in the UK, including the metals recycling sector. We are focused on generating growth across every sector of the economy to increase productivity, and thereby raise standards of living for everyone in this country.BEIS officials have held a number of discussions with the metals recycling industry, both individually and through the Metals Council, and will continue to pro-actively engage with relevant companies and representative bodies to support the metals recycling sector overcome obstacles to its future growth.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many MWp of solar have been installed under the revised Feed-in Tariff scheme in each month since its re-launch in 2016.

Richard Harrington: The table below shows the amount of solar installed, and confirmed on the Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme, in each month from February 2016 to June 2017. MonthSolar capacity installed under FiTs (MW)Feb-1623.5Mar-1663.1Apr-167.7May-1626.0Jun-16113.1Jul-167.8Aug-1620.1Sep-1626.1Oct-167.5Nov-167.3Dec-167.6Jan-173.7Feb-174.6Mar-176.8Apr-173.2May-172.6Jun-170.6Total331.3 Source: Ofgem Feed in Tariff installations report, 30 June 2017, available at:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/feed-tariff-installation-report-30-june-2017* Due to lags in the accreditation process, there are likely to be further schemes completed in the first six months of 2017 that are awaiting accreditation on FiTs. Additionally, the figures will include a number of sites (particularly community schemes) that obtained pre-accreditation in advance of the revised FiT scheme, but commissioned and gained full accreditation since February 2016.

Feed-in Tariffs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on running a consultation on amending the FIT scheme technology caps in 2017.

Richard Harrington: The Government is considering the balance of deployment caps between and within technologies, taking into account deployment patterns since the scheme’s new arrangements entered into force on 8 September 2016 and wider government priorities, including a consideration of technology trajectories towards subsidy-free deployment.

Feed-in Tariffs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he intends to renew the Feed-in Tariff scheme after March 2019.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure that solar and other micro-generation technologies receive a fair price for exported electricity from March 2019.

Richard Harrington: The Feed-in Tariff scheme remains open. We are currently considering the next steps for the export tariff, taking into account deployment for each supported technology to date, as well as potential pathways for the small scale renewables sector to operate on a subsidy-free basis. We will set out our proposals in due course.

Feed-in Tariffs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the current underspend in the revised Feed-in Tariff scheme is; and what is the total amount unused under that scheme was across all technologies in (a) August 2017, (b) May 2017, (c) February 2017 and (d) November 2016.

Richard Harrington: The Feed in Tariff scheme has received applications for 329MW of capacity by the end of June 2017 out of a total of 713MW of available capacity up to the same time period. The amounts of used and available capacity for the months in question were: March 2017 - 51MW applied for, 122MW of capacity availableDecember 2017 - 57MW applied for, 120MW of capacity availableSeptember 2016 - 61MW applied for, 118MW of capacity availableJune 2016 - 56MW applied for, 116MW of capacity available

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the percentage change in the cost for the average domestic dual fuel bill for customers of (a) British Gas, (b) EDF, (c) Npower, (d) E.ON, (e) Scottish Power and (f) SSE since 2010.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy collect data from energy companies on the price of energy. This data is collected in confidence and therefore cannot be provided by individual supplier.In real terms, the cost of an average annual UK domestic energy bill based on fixed consumption levels[1] for combined gas and standard electricity increased year on year from 2010 to 2014 but fell between 2014 and 2016. Overall from 2010 to 2016, bills increased by 8.4 per cent, assuming fixed consumption. However, over this time period average household consumption of gas and electricity also fell, in large part as a result of improved energy efficiency. Based on actual consumption, bills were slightly lower in 2016 than 2010, although this reflects colder than average temperatures in 2010.Data based on fixed consumption can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics. Information on the impact of variable consumption can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604317/Domestic_energy_bills_in_2016_-_the_impact_of_variable_consumption.pdf.Additionally, individual companies have published their total revenue from sales of domestic gas and electricity through the consolidated segmental reports which can be found here:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2017/06/links_to_consolidated_segmental_statements_0.pdf  [1] Consumption levels: 3,800kWh for electricity and 15,000kWh for gas

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of his Department's staff had a pay increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Margot James: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was formed as part of the machinery of government changes in July 2017, by merging parts of BIS and parts of DECC.The BEIS 2017 pay award has not yet been agreed, so details of staff pay increases are not available for this year.It is also not possible to provide accurate information for pay increases for staff (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent for each of the former departments other than at disproportionate costs. This is because this will require a number of reports to be generated and checked in both former departments for staff at both Senior Civil Service level and below in relation to both the 2015 and 2016 pay awards.

Energy: Prices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of Government policy on trends in the average cost of domestic dual fuel energy bills over the last five years.

Margot James: After an increase in 2013, average household dual fuel bills declined in real terms between 2013 and 2016. Actions taken to tackle emissions have helped to reduce average energy bills for households as efficiency savings have more than offset the increased cost of supporting low carbon technologies.The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) estimate that the cost of policies delivering cleaner energy, support for vulnerable households, and investing in upgrading our buildings account for around 12 per cent (around £140) of an average household dual fuel bill in 2016. However, these costs are on average more than offset by savings from improvements to the energy efficiency of people’s homes. The CCC estimate that household energy efficiency improvements made since 2008 are delivering average bill savings of around £290 per year, driven in large part by government policy.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to provide financial help to businesses to invest in low carbon growth.

Claire Perry: The Government is determined to deliver clean growth – cutting our emissions while growing the economy. Under this government we have seen significant investments in low carbon growth in sectors such as offshore wind, low emission vehicles, and green finance. It has been estimated that that clean energy investments in the UK have more than doubled since 2010, rising from $10.8 billion in 2010 to over $25 billion in 2016 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, 2017).As part of our Industrial Strategy, our investment in energy innovation will more than double to over £400 million per year by 2021. Much of this support will enable UK companies to invest in low carbon growth.In addition, we have a range of policies in place to support UK businesses in reducing their energy use – for example through Climate Change Agreements, where businesses receive financial benefits in return for take up of energy efficiency measures.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to prioritise investment in offshore wind energy over nuclear energy in light of recent figures that shows that energy from offshore wind will now be cheaper.

Richard Harrington: The result from the contracts for difference auction is a great result for British consumers and will drive down the cost of decarbonisation. However, the strike prices for offshore wind and nuclear are not directly comparable given the differences in the characteristics of the technologies. Having a diverse generation mix is important for the UK’s security of supply. Nuclear also has a key role to play as part of a diverse generation mix delivering reliable low carbon electricity for consumers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Mark Field: ​Information on all our Consular services are provided online and the FCO ensures that it complies with best practice on accessibility of information as set out by the Government Digital Service. We do not currently provide information on our services via British Sign Language.

North Korea

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the implications are for the Government's policies on North Korea of the C4ADS Report Risky Business, published in June 2017.

Mark Field: ​The UK is working in collaboration with UN and EU partners to make it harder for the DPRK to develop processes to procure, through illicit trade and finance activities, the technologies used to support its illegal weapons programmes. This includes sanctioning individuals, entities and items associated with those sectors responsible for funding its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Caribbean: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Governments of (a) the Netherlands and (b) France on the response to Hurricane Irma since the Oral Statement made by the Minister for the Americas on 7 September 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary discussed the response to Hurricane Irma with his Dutch and French counterparts at the EU Foreign Affairs meeting in Tallinn on 7 September. He also spoke to the Dutch Foreign Minister on 11 September to discuss the UK and Dutch response to the crisis. Our Embassies in Paris and the Hague are in regular contact with their host Governments on this issue.

British Overseas Territories: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Governments of each Overseas Territory on the response to Hurricane Irma since 7 September 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary has spoken to the Governors of Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands; the Chief Minister of Anguilla; and the Premier of the British Virgin Islands since Hurricane Irma struck. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has kept in close contact with all the Governors before and since Irma hit the islandsThe Foreign Secretary travelled to the Caribbean on 12 September, visiting Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, where he saw at first hand the the UK's huge relief effort. During that visit he met with the Governors and others leading recovery efforts. He also visited local communities working to repair major damage.We have received formal requests for UK assistance from the Governments of Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands. We are working in partnership with the Overseas Territories Governments to assess their longer term needs in order to rebuild and how the UK will support that over the weeks, months and years to come.

Burma: Rohingya

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Burma on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' assessment of Burma's operations against Rohingya Muslims constituting a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

Mark Field: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many of his Department's staff had a pay increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Sir Alan Duncan: The table below shows the numbers of UK based staff receiving a pay award increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.​(​a) above 1%​(b) 1%(​c) less than 1%​20142,15202,457​20152,04202,427​2016​2,764​51,526

Department for Exiting the European Union

Economic Situation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 3.16 of the Review of the Balance of Competences between the UK and the EU: The Single Market, published in July 2013, whether the impact assessments relating to the effect of EU exit on 50 sectors of the economy conducted by his Department have reached conclusions different to those of the studies cited in the 2013 review about the effect of the Single Market on the UK's GDP.

Mr Steve Baker: The government is carrying out a programme of extensive analytical work that will contribute to our exit negotiations with the EU, defining our future partnership with the EU, and informing our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. As Parliament has also agreed, however we will not publish anything that undermines our ability to negotiate the best deal for the UK.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Mr Steve Baker: DExEU has not been asked to provide this service to date. The department could provide British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters or non-spoken language interpreters, using contracted providers for customers who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.

Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the customs union on trade between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: As the Prime Minister made clear, the UK does not seek membership of the EU’s Single Market after we leave the EU, but rather a bold and ambitious FTA as part of a new, deep and special partnership. The deeply integrated nature of trade, both domestically between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and across the land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, highlights why the UK is prioritising finding a solution that protects businesses’ ability to access these markets and avoid a return to a hard border.In our position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland we have put forward our key principles for delivering our shared objective for a seamless and frictionless land border. We are committed to working with the EU to find a creative solution that recognises the particular economic, social and cultural context of the land border with Ireland that allows current trade and everyday movements across the border to continue as they do today.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all EU citizens are reassured of their right to remain in the UK for two years after March 2019 if the Government's proposals are agreed to.

Mr Steve Baker: The UK’s policy paper “Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” makes clear that EU citizens who have lived continuously and lawfully in the UK for at least five years automatically have a permanent right to reside under EU law. The paper also makes clear that EU citizens who have lived in the UK less than five years before the specified date will be allowed to stay until they have five years’ residence, and will then be eligible to apply for settled status.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he is taking to promote whistleblowing in his Department.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union has a whistleblowing policy which derives from the central Civil Service policy. The policy is written in accordance with the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code as well as in reference to the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998). The department has outlined the policy in depth on the intranet which is accessible for all staff to see and refer to.The department actively promotes a culture of speaking up.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Chief Scientific Advisers

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if his Department will appoint a chief scientific advisor.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to ensuring that we access the very best scientific expertise. There are several models for achieving this and we must be sure we take into account DExEU’s role as a co-ordinating department. We are currently exploring these options, including considering the appointment of a Chief Scientific Adviser.

Brexit

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has to recruit more officials to assist with the negotiations on the UK leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Steve Baker: All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 450 staff based in the UK plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels. We regularly review headcount to ensure we are appropriately staffed to deal with all aspects of the negotiations.The Department is continuing to recruit the brightest and the best from across the civil service, the wider public sector and the private sector. Numbers are regularly changing and our aim is to have a streamlined Department, while hiring in the right skills and experience to get the best outcome for the UK.

Attorney General

Rape: Trials

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the Government's review of subsection 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, (a) what exercises were carried out to collate that information, (b) from what source the information has been obtained and (c) when his Department plans to publish the review.

Jeremy Wright: The work on section 41 has been led by officials in my Office and at the Ministry of Justice. They have sought a range of views from those familiar with how the legislation operates in practice as well as those who provide support to victims of sexual violence. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reviewed a sample of finalised rape prosecution files to assess the frequency and outcome of applications to introduce a complainant’s sexual history under section 41. The Lord Chancellor and I will give our response to that work as soon as we can.

Hate Crime: Social Networking

Emma Hardy: To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service has adequate resources to tackle social media hate crime.

Robert Buckland: The CPS prosecutes cases where they meet the test for prosecution. It allocates its resources accordingly and will continue to do so. I welcome the CPS’s commitment to treat hate crimes using social media as seriously as other sorts of hate crime.

Wales Office

Coastal Communities Fund: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which projects in Wales have benefited from the coastal communities fund in each year for which data is available.

Alun Cairns: Since 2012, the Coastal Communities Fund in Wales has provided £12,262,000 for 57 projects in Wales to help create new jobs and promote economic development on the Welsh coast.Descriptions and funding levels for each project are available on the BIG Lottery website:https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/ccf

Tidal Power: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent meetings he has had with Cabinet colleagues on tidal lagoons.

Alun Cairns: I have had a number of discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including on tidal lagoons. I remain supportive of a tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay, however it is essential that we fully assess the costs and benefits of the project to ensure it represents value for money.

UK Trade With EU: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of Welsh exports and imports were traded with the EU in each year for which figures are available.

Alun Cairns: The table below show the proportion of Welsh exports and imports that were traded with the EU between 2014 and 2016. YearPercentage of Welsh imports that come from EU countriesPercentage of Welsh exports that go to EU countries201442.964.3201548.166.7201648.667.1Source: HMRC Regional Trade Statistics Data before this period is not available due to an improvement in methodology made by HMRC. HMRC do not receive information in respect of goods that move wholly within the UK. Goods partially created in Wales before being finalised by a separate company, in another region of the UK and exported are not included in the above figures.

EU Grants and Loans: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much in EU structural funds has been spent in each local authority area of Wales in each year for which data are available.

Alun Cairns: The distribution of EU structural funds in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The UK Government does not hold these figures.

Poverty: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many people in work were living in poverty in Wales in each year for which data is available.

Alun Cairns: The poverty threshold as measured by the UK Government and the European Union is 60 per cent of median household income. Statistics are published as part of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) Households below Average Income (HBAI) release. HBAI statistics are not classified by those who are in employment and those who are not on a regional basis. HBAI statistics are however classified by those who are of working age on a regional basis. These can be found in the table below for the years 1994-2016. The figures are published to the nearest hundred thousand, as is recommended by the HBAI data convention.



Table - UIN 9542
(Word Document, 17.85 KB)

Railway Stations: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which railway stations in Wales are being considered for remodelling to accommodate bimodal trains.

Alun Cairns: No stations in Wales require remodelling to accommodate the bi-mode Hitachi Super Express trains.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much funding Wales has received from the public purse in real terms under the Barnett Formula in each of the last 30 years.

Alun Cairns: Table 1 below shows funding Wales has received from the public purse for each of the past 12 years. This information is published by HM Treasury as part of their Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. Data before this period is not available. Table 1: Total identifiable expenditure on services in Wales 2004-16YearExpenditure (£ millions)2004-0521,8942005-0623,3622006-0724,4652007-0825,6232008-0927,3422009-1029,1712010-1130,1152011-1229,9022012-1329,5822013-1430,1002014-1530,5712015-1630,978 Source: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2017 The funding Wales has received from the public purse in real terms is only available for the past 5 years. This can be found in table 2 below. Table 2: Total identifiable expenditure on services in Wales in real terms 2011-16YearExpenditure (£ millions)2011-1231,6352012-1330,6532013-1430,6842014-1530,7062015-1630,978

South Wales Railway Line: Cardiff

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the timescale is for the completion of rail electrification to Cardiff.

Alun Cairns: The Government is committed to improving services to and from South Wales through our programme of investment in the Great Western Main Line. Electrification of the Great Western Main Line to Cardiff will be completed by December 2018.

Foreign Investment in UK: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what percentage of foreign inward investment in Wales was from other EU member states in each of the last five years.

Alun Cairns: Between 2011/12 and 2015/16, 112 of the 367 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects into Wales came from EU countries. This represented 31% of the total FDI projects into Wales during this time. In 2015/16, 90 out of the 97 FDI projects in Wales were supported by the Department for International Trade.

Devolution: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much (a) central, (b) Welsh and (c) local government has spent on the (i) Cardiff City Deal, (ii) Swansea City Deal and (iii) North Wales growth deal to date; and what projections he has made of spending on each of those City Deals in the next three years.

Alun Cairns: The Government has committed to invest over £600m in City Deals in Wales. Of this, £500m will be invested in the Cardiff City Deal, and £115.6m will be invested in the Swansea City Deal. It is estimated that between the two deals up to 34,000 jobs could be created.The government also remains committed to agreeing a North Wales Growth Deal.Full details of each partner’s commitments can be found in the enclosed table.Further detail on the funding of the Cardiff and Swansea City Deals can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508268/Cardiff_Capital_Region_City_Deal.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611685/Swansea_City_Deal_-_English.pdf



Table - PQ UIN 9609
(Word Document, 14.47 KB)

EU Grants and Loans: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much planned spending from EU structural funds will occur in each local authority area in Wales in each of the next six years.

Alun Cairns: The distribution of EU structural funds in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The UK Government does not hold these figures.

EU Grants and Loans: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much the UK received in EU Structural Funds in each year since 2000; and what proportion of that funding was allocated to Wales.

Alun Cairns: For 2014-2020, the UK was allocated EUR 11,633m (in 2014 prices) from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF), of which around EUR 2,410m was allocated to Wales. For 2007-2013, the UK was allocated EUR 10,613m (in 2007 prices) from the ERDF and ESF, of which around EUR 2,220m was allocated to Wales. For 2000-2006, the UK was allocated a total of EUR 15,635m (in 1999 prices) from the EU budget for cohesion policy. As this allocation also included spending on fisheries and rural development it is not possible to say what proportion was allocated from the structural funding programmes (ERDF and ESF). However, the Wales Audit Office* estimates that Wales received EUR 2,140m under the 2000-2006 structural funding programmes. *Wales Audit Office, European Union Structural Funds 2007-2013, available at https://www.wao.gov.uk/system/files/publications/WAO_EU_Structural_Funding_English_2013.pdf, accessed 12/09/2017

Department for Education

Private Education: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Cantle Report on education and cohesion in Oldham, published in 2006, how many independent schools have opened since 2010.

Nick Gibb: Since 1 January 2010, 573 independent schools have opened in England, of which 151 have subsequently closed. Since 1 January 2010, five independent schools have opened in Oldham, all of which are still open.

Food Technology

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England currently teach cooking; and how many of those are (a) academies and (b) free schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold data on how many schools teach cooking.However, one of the stated aims of the National Curriculum programme of study for Design and Technology is for pupils to ‘understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook’.Design & Technology is a compulsory subject for all pupils in Key Stages 1 to 3 attending maintained schools. Academies and free schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum, but may still offer design and technology or teach cookery as part of their own curriculum.In 2016, 33,448 pupils entered the Design & Technology: Food Technology GCSE[1], with entries in 1,470 schools[2]. Of these, 841 are academies and 2 are free schools. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016 (Subject time series table) [2] Based on Key stage 4 qualification and subject data, available at: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data

Qualifications

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the updated 2017-18 qualifications list for (a) ICT and (b) other subjects will be confirmed.

Nick Gibb: The list of approved technical and applied qualifications was updated on 4 September 2017 and is available on GOV.UK. Qualifications included on this list are available for teaching from September 2017 and will count in the 2019 performance tables. These include qualifications in ICT and other subjects. The list of approved qualifications can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/performance-tables-technical-and-vocational-qualifications.

Teachers: Pay

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other ministerial colleagues on the public sector pay gap for teachers.

Nick Gibb: Ministers in this Department and officials have regular discussions with their counterparts in Her Majesty’s Treasury to discuss a range of issues relating to teachers’ pay. Those discussions are ongoing and the Secretary of State is next due to meet the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 5 September.

Class Sizes

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size was for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Colne Valley constituency, (ii) Kirklees, (iii) West Yorkshire and (iv) England in each of the last seven years.

Nick Gibb: Average class size figures for state-funded schools are calculated and published annually in the statistical first releases available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.A national summary of average class sizes for key stages 1 and 2 and secondary is in the link to national tables, tables 6a and 6b respectively.A summary at local authority and regional level is only available for key stages 1 and 2 and published in the link to local authority and regional tables, table 11.Data is not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school providing key stages 1 and 2 and secondary is available via the link to underlying tables then the file ‘…Schools_Classes_UD’.

English Baccalaureate: Disadvantaged

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the E-Bacc on (a) pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds studying the arts and creative subjects and (b) access to careers in the arts and creative industries for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: In 2016, on average, pupils in state funded schools entered nine GCSEs and equivalent qualifications, rising to ten for some pupils. As the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) covers up to eight GCSEs, this leaves room for other choices including creative and artistic subjects. There has been no evidence that mainstream schools that increased EBacc entry results also decreased their arts entries. The 297 schools that increased their EBacc entry rates by 40 percentage points or more between 2011 and 2016, on average entered 48.6% of their pupils for at least one arts subject. This was almost the same proportion as other state funded schools (48.9%). There is a small positive correlation (0.12) between schools’ EBacc entries and arts entries, suggesting that schools where EBacc entry has increased tend to have also seen an increase in their arts uptake[1].  It is too early to assess the effect of these changes on employment in the creative industries because pupils who have been taught since the introduction of the EBacc and who may have gone on to higher education will still be undergraduates. The Government is committed to ensuring that talented students have access to the support they need to help them succeed in careers in the arts and creative industries. Our Music and Dance Scheme and Dance and Drama Awards provide income-assessed support to ensure that the most talented children and young people from all backgrounds are able to receive the high quality training they need to succeed in careers in acting, music and dance. In the Culture White Paper published in March 2016, the Government committed to working with Arts Council England to understand the barriers that prevent people from lower income households and under-represented groups from pursuing a career in the arts. An external report commissioned by the Government looking at the barriers facing disadvantaged people in pursuing a career in the performing arts will be published later this year.   [1] Department for Education, 2017, Trends in arts subjects in schools with increased EBacc entry, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trends-in-arts-subjects-in-schools-with-increased-ebacc-entry.

Schools: Standards

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were in schools rated as good or outstanding in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: Official statistics released by Ofsted showed there were 4,855,336 children in Good or Outstanding schools as of 31 August, 2010. See Ofsted’s Dataview site for details:https://public.tableau.com/profile/ofsted#!/vizhome/Dataview/Viewregionalperformanceovertime. On 29 June 2017, Ofsted released their latest inspection data as of 31 March 2017, reporting there were 6,620,625 children in Good or Outstanding schools. The latest Ofsted First Release publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-march-2017.

Children: Reading

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure children read outside of term time.

Nick Gibb: The National Curriculum for English taught in maintained schools requires that teachers encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment. We expect teachers to promote a love of reading and all pupils should be encouraged to choose and read books independently for challenge, interest and enjoyment. There is a range of initiatives run by charitable organisations encouraging reading for pleasure including the Summer Reading Scheme run by the Reading Agency, which is designed for all reading abilities and encourages children aged 4 to 11 to read six books during the summer holiday.

Department for Education: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department publishes information on its services on GOV.UK. This content meets legal accessibility requirements and can be read by assistive technology. Documents published by the department can be requested in an alternative format in line with the Equalities Act 2010, this includes British Sign Language. The Department can also engage with correspondence from individuals using British Sign Language if that is the preferred format. The Department is committed to ensuring young people who use British Sign Language gain the skills they need. In January 2017, we announced that for the first time, British Sign Language will be accepted as an alternative qualification to functional skills in English for apprentices where BSL is their first language.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2017 to Question 5173, how many school children at Kensington Aldridge Academy have been unable to begin the academic school year 2017-18.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2017 to Question 5173, how many children attending St Francis of Assisi Primary School were relocated to an alternative school.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2017 to Question 5173, what estimate she has made of the length of time that Kensington Aldridge Academy will remain closed.

Nick Gibb: Kensington Aldridge Academy has delayed the start of its academic school year until Monday 11 September, with a week of off-site residential activities. It will open in its new temporary buildings off nearby Scrubs Lane on Monday 18 September. The expectation is that the vast majority of pupils will be able to start the school year.The on-going work at Grenfell Tower itself will clearly determine when the school can return to its permanent premises, but we do not currently expect that to be before the summer term of this academic year.St Francis of Assisi Primary School returned to its premises on 26 June. School admissions are managed at a local level. In this situation we are in regular contact with the Tri-Borough Admissions Team for Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and at this time we have not been made aware of parents of any children attending St Francis of Assisi requesting to move to an alternative school.

Department for Education: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has her Department paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Data on the amount paid to the Behavioural Insights team is available since 2015-16 and shows amounts of £132,807 (2015-16), £110,088 (2016-17) and £159,095 (to date in 2017-18).

Languages: Education

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the study of foreign languages in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises the importance of providing pupils with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern languages. Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures; fosters pupils’ curiosity; deepens their understanding of the world; and equips pupils to study and work in other countries. Evidence suggests that children can better be taught the sounds of new languages when they are younger. That is why the Government introduced a new foreign language for Key Stage 2 as part of the new National Curriculum, which came into force in September 2014.The Government took action in 2010 to halt the decline in the number of school children taking language GCSEs by introducing the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which requires secondary school pupils to take GCSEs in English, maths, science (including computer science), a language and history or geography. This has had a positive effect on the take up of languages in schools since introduced in 2010. The Government published a response to the consultation on proposals to implement the EBacc on 19 July 2017. It set out that 75% of Year 10 pupils in state funded mainstream schools will start to study GCSEs in the EBacc combination of subjects by September 2022. This is as an important step to reaching 90% of Year 10 pupils studying GCSEs in the EBacc combination of subjects by 2025.

Academies: Sponsorship

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the process is for replacing a failing academy with a new sponsor.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) are responsible, on behalf of the Secretary of State, for holding all academies, including multi-academy trusts, to account and will intervene where necessary to bring about rapid improvement.The main triggers for RSCs taking action are concerns about educational performance, financial management and/or governance. In the first instance, RSCs will support the trust that runs the academy to secure improvements itself – for example, through diagnostic visits from education advisors or arranging school-to-school support. Where they have serious concerns, RSCs are able to take more formal action such as issuing warning notices, setting out the improvements that are required and by when. The particular actions they may take are contained in the funding agreement between the academy trust and the Secretary of State.Ultimately, the Education and Adoption Act 2016 provides the Secretary of State with powers, regardless of what terms are in the funding agreement, to terminate the funding agreement of an academy that is failing or coasting and transfer it to a new sponsor.Our priority is to ensure all children receive the best possible education and RSCs will identify the most appropriate sponsor and work with the existing trust to manage the transition and ensure minimal disruption for pupils.More detailed information about powers available for taking action in academies and how decisions are taken by RSCs are set out in the Schools Causing Concern Guidance and the RSCs Decision Making Framework, both of which are available on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-causing-concern--2andhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577885/RSC_decision_making_framework_December_2016.pdf.

Environment Protection: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to ensure children are being educated about the environmental challenges faced by the UK and the rest of the world.

Nick Gibb: All schools are required to offer a balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development; and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. The new curriculum is compulsory in state maintained schools. Academies and free schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum, but may use the curriculum as a benchmark. The National Curriculum includes content on the environment. For example, in Key Stage 3 geography curriculum, introduced in 2014, pupils are taught about the change in the Earth’s climate from the Ice Age to the present day and how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate. Additionally, the new Key Stage 4 science curriculum, introduced in 2016, pupils are taught about climate change as part of atmospheric and Earth science.

Commonwealth: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to uphold the commitment it made at the 9th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting outlined in point 1 of the Final Communiqué to protect and strengthen the rights of all young people, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The government is committed to children’s rights. The ‘Rights of the Child’ continues to underpin associated Government policy and legislation across Whitehall, the Devolved Administrations and those Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories that have ratified the Convention. The UK has reaffirmed its commitment to give the Articles set out in the UNCRC due consideration.During the passage of the Children and Social Work Act, the previous Children’s Minister re-iterated that our commitment to the UNCRC is already reflected in legislation. For example, the Children Act 1989 and 2004 set out a range of duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, while in 2013 we issued statutory guidance to Directors of Children’s Services requiring them to have regard to the general principles of the UNCRC to ensure that children and young people are involved in the development and delivery of local services.The Children and Social Work Act is a further example of how we constantly seek not only to protect children’s rights, but enhance them.In October 2016, we responded to the United Nations’ concluding recommendations through a Written Ministerial Statement (HLWS197) and a letter from the permanent secretary to his counterparts across government. We are determined to see this through with a framework of actions designed to raise the profile of children’s rights, and embed them across Whitehall and beyond.

Class Sizes

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average pupil-teacher ratio is in (a) academies, (b) free schools, (c) comprehensive and (d) grammar schools.

Nick Gibb: The average salary of teachers in academies and local authority maintained schools is published in Table 9a of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ statistical release, available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.Information on the average salary of teachers in grammar and comprehensive schools is not routinely published.

Teachers: Pay

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average salary is of teachers in an (a) academy, (b) free school, (c) grammar school and (d) comprehensive school.

Nick Gibb: The pupil teacher ratio in academies and local authority maintained schools is published in Table 17a of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ statistical release, available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.Information on the pupil teacher ratio in grammar and comprehensive schools is not routinely published.

Free School Meals

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in (a) Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England were entitled to receive free school meals in each of the last seven years.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of families in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency that would have been entitled to free school meals under the pre-universal free school meals system; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Figures on the proportion of children eligible for free school meals are published, for all authorities in England, annually. The figures can be found in the statistical first releases available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.The proportion of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals under the system prior to the introduction of universal free school meals system is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.Data is not summarised by parliamentary constituency, but data for each school is available via the link to underlying tables then the file ‘…Schools_Pupils_UD’.

School Milk

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the debate in Westminster Hall on Children's health: Access to milk of 28 March 2017, if her Department will make an assessment of the recommendations in Tetra Pak's Making more of milk report to improve access to and uptake of milk in primary schools.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government encourages consumption of dairy products as part of a healthy, balanced diet through legislation, funding and guidance. The School Food Standards ensures milk must be available every school day for drinking. Practical guidance including portion sizes is available on the School Food Plan website. Where we have evidence that individual schools are not meeting the standards, we follow up directly with the school. We have no plans to extend eligibility for free school milk to all children in reception classes. Disadvantaged pupils over the age of 5 are entitled to free school milk. To help subsidise the cost of school milk, schools can choose to take part in the Nursery Milk Scheme and the EU School Milk Subsidy Scheme. We will consider the longer-term approach to school milk provision as part of a future domestic policy programme. We do not intend to take a formal assessment against the recommendations in this report, however, we have agreed to meet representatives of Tetra Pak and departmental officials are currently in contact.

Department for Education: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of her Department's staff had a pay increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Mr Robert Goodwill: All departmental pay awards have been applied in accordance with HMT pay guidance that restricts increases to an average of one per cent across all staff. Over the last three years, the department has targeted awards so that lower paid staff receive higher awards than those at the top of pay grades.The table below shows the number of employees of the Department for Education who received a pay increase a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent for each of the last three years.Pay Award YearAbove 1%1%Below 1%2017/1836119897212016/1724059261942015/162302699492 These figures include staff in post on the 31 March each year and exclude people that joined during the financial year (i.e. the pay awards for staff in post on 31 March 2017 are included in the 2017/18 figures).

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to deal with the implications of Wakefield City Academy Trust no longer running schools in that area.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what effect Wakefield City Academies Trust's no longer running 21 schools will have on (a) the school timetable, (b) school standards, (c) funding and (d) childcare services organised through the school.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse is of the Wakefield City Academies Trust pulling out of running 21 schools a few days into the new school year.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to establish an enquiry to determine the reasons for the failure of the Wakefield Cities Academies Trust.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Justice

Criminal Injuries Compensation: Offences against Children

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review urgently the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority guidelines to ensure that compensation reflects the law around child sexual abuse.

Dr Phillip Lee: Child sexual abuse is abhorrent, and victims can apply for taxpayer-funded compensation awards through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the Scheme).The Scheme is made by the Secretary of State under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995 having been approved by each House of Parliament. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) administers the Scheme and decides all claims independently of ministers and Parliament. The CICA sets guidelines to assist them in administering the Scheme.The CICA guidelines are intended to make sure that controlling and abusive behaviour is taken into account when handling compensation applications for child sexual abuse. The CICA are urgently reviewing their guidelines to ensure they are robust enough to deal with cases where grooming may be a factor.

Courts: Domestic Violence

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that changed names or the addresses of victims of domestic violence or abuse are not provided in court-related documents provided to the perpetrator of that violence or abuse.

Dr Phillip Lee: Courts regularly handle extremely sensitive cases and have a range of measures in place to ensure the safety and security of victims including victims of domestic abuse. For some civil proceedings, individuals may request that their address details are not disclosed and this is something that the judge will consider on a case by case basis.In family proceedings the courts have clear guidance on the processes operational staff should follow to make sure that confidentiality is maintained when parties addresses are required; for example, when the court needs to carry out safeguarding checks.In criminal cases there is no requirement either for a witness’ address to be provided in their written statement, or for the witness to give their current name if that is different to the name by which they were known by at the time of the offence. There are additional measures that prosecutors can apply for such as witness anonymity orders under section 86 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 that allows the content of a witness’ statement to be redacted in such a way as to prevent disclosure of the witness’ identity, as permitted by section 87(4) of that Act.

Courts: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has for upgrading the court estate in Swindon.

Dominic Raab: Improvement works are planned at both Swindon Magistrates’ Court and Swindon Combined Court. The works will improve how services are currently delivered to court users in the Swindon area, and will also enable the receipt of additional workloads following the planned closure of Chippenham Law Courts. We expect this work to be completed by summer 2018.

Prisoners: Per Capita Costs

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the prison incarceration rates per capita are for (a) England and Wales and (b) other EU countries; and what the average cost of jailing a person per year is in (i) England and Wales and (ii) other EU countries.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The SPACE I report (last published in April 2017) covers incarceration rates for each member country of the Council of Europe: http://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2017/04/SPACE_I_2015_FinalReport_161215_REV170425.pdf Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), routinely publishes average costs per prisoner and prison place, and overall prison unit costs of individual prisons for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales. The information can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each relevant financial year here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/563326/costs-per-place-cost-per-prisoner-2015-16.pdf. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The most recently published figures are for financial year 2015-16 and we expect to publish the 2016-17 data on 26 October 2017.

Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date the Government plans to publish its review into legal aid reform.

Dominic Raab: I am currently considering the planned post-implementation review of recent legal aid reforms. I will make an announcement in due course.

Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will list (a) the organisations and (b) people who have given evidence to the Government's review into legal aid reform; and if he will publish that evidence.

Dominic Raab: I am currently considering the planned post-implementation review of recent legal aid reforms. I will make an announcement in due course.

Courts: Recordings

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what power a court has to require a person to hand over a device if that device has been seen to have been used or is thought to have been used to take a photograph or recording in court.

Dominic Raab: The Court Act of 2003 Part 4 (54) provides the court security officer acting in the execution of his duty with the power to ask a person to surrender an article that may be evidence or in relation to an offence. It is an offence to take a photograph or recording in court and therefore the person will be asked to surrender the device by the court security officer. If this takes place within a court/hearing room this will be upon the direction of the judge.

Courts: Recordings

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what power a court has to search a person for a device if that device has been seen to have been used or is thought to have been used to take a photograph or recording in court.

Dominic Raab: The Court Act of 2003, Part 4 (52) provides the court security officer acting in the execution of his duty with the powers to search any person who is in a court building, and any article in their possession. If a person is thought to have used a device to take a photograph or recording in court, and they refuse to surrender that device, the court security officer may search that person. If this takes place within a court/hearing room this will be upon the direction of the judge.

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) foreign and (b) British national defendants of each (i) sex and (ii) ethnic group were refused bail for each offence type in the last year for which information is available.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) foreign and (b) British national defendants of each (i) sex and (ii) ethnic group were sentenced to immediate custody for each offence type in the last year for which information is available.

Dominic Raab: Reliable information on the proportion of foreign and British national defendants of each sex and ethnic group who were refused bail or sentenced to immediate custody could only be provided at disproportionate cost because court proceedings data does not include information on nationality.

Ministry of Justice: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to promote whistleblowing in his Department and agencies.

Dr Phillip Lee: The whistleblowing policy and whistleblowing awareness is regularly promoted within Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to staff so they are aware that any concerns they raise will be taken seriously, and that they will be protected and supported by the department. MoJ has dedicated whistleblowing intranet pages with information and guidance on the policy and details of our dedicated Nominated Officers who staff can contact directly if they do not wish to raise the concerns with their managers. As part of supporting Civil Service Whistleblowing Awareness Day on 21 September, MoJ will be running events for staff and promoting the importance of speaking up if there are concerns of wrong doing with internal communications articles and supporting materials.

Courts: Chichester

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to secure appropriate alternative court provision in Chichester after the closure of Chichester Magistrates Court and Combined Court.

Dominic Raab: Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Officials are assessing options for the provision of suitable alternative court provision for Chichester and a decision on the options will be made in due course. Chichester Combined Court remains open and will not close until this provision is in place.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost is of detaining foreign prisoners in British prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah: MoJ does not analyse cost by prisoner nationality at an individual prisoner level, as costs recorded on the central accounting systems do not allow identification of costs attributable to holding individual offenders.However, HMPPS information is published on an annual basis on average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales.This information is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2015-to-2016

Rape: Trials

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2017 to Question 4856, on rape: trials what information is collected and by which agency of his Department on the number of rape trials in which subsection 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 has been used (a) with and (b) without an application pre-trial.

Dominic Raab: The information requested is not held centrally.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings his Department has had with representatives of the insurance industry to discuss changing the formula for calculating deductions from personal injury awards.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings his Department has had with the victims of accidents to discuss changing the formula for calculating deductions from personal injury awards.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of how many victims of serious accidents would have their income affected by proposed changes to the formula for calculating deductions from personal injury awards.

Dr Phillip Lee: In separate meetings on 2 March 2017 Ministry of Justice officials met with the Association of British Insurers and then with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers to discuss issues arising from the Written Ministerial Statement about the personal injury discount rate made by the then Lord Chancellor on 27 February (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-02-27/HCWS503). The department has not had any other meetings with representatives of the insurance industry or the victims of accidents to discuss changing how the personal injury discount rate is to be set since 7 December 2016 when the then Lord Chancellor announced her intention to complete the then current review of the rate by 31 January 2017. Officials from the Ministry of Justice have, however, been present at meetings since that date with insurer and claimant interests on other subjects at which the subject of the discount rate has been raised, including a meeting with insurers and representatives of the insurance industry chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28 February (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-meets-insurance-sector-leaders-to-discuss-personal-injury-discount-rate). The proposed changes to the way in which the discount rate is set could potentially affect the size of all lump sum awards of personal injury damages for future pecuniary loss. The size of the change would depend on the rate set and the composition of the award in question. The potential effect of the changes is analysed in the impact assessment published alongside the Command Paper The Personal Injury Discount Rate How it should be set in future Draft Legislation (Cm 9500). Copies of both documents were placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 7 September. Copies are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/personal-injury-discount-rate-how-it-should-be-set-in-future andhttps://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/personal-injury-discount-rate/ .

Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal aid providers there were in each region of England and Wales in each of the last six years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: LAA Office Regional LocationMar-12Mar-13Mar-14Mar-15Mar-16Mar-17Birmingham275280254250246235Brighton171165145150141133Bristol250243201204194179Cambridge240225198209191184Cardiff228224193190169163Leeds271255230238242234Liverpool807764666261London713701674663656619Manchester315294261260246230Newcastle143137125130121116Nottingham151143123130132121Reading154148126132126118Grand Total2,9912,8922,5942,6222,5262,393 Note that the above figures show the number of firms with a legal aid contract in each given year. A firm may have multiple offices which offer legal aid. The LAA reviews provision on a regular basis to identify any areas where action is required to maintain service provision. A new tender process for all civil legal aid contracts is due to launch shortly, with services under these contracts beginning in autumn 2018.

Leader of the House

Select Committee Reports

Cat Smith: To ask the Leader of the House, which Select Committee reports published less than two months before the date of dissolution the Government plans to respond to; and what the timetable is for those responses.

Andrea Leadsom: The Cabinet Office offers guidance to Departments on responding to Select Committee reports. It is the responsibility of individual Departments to follow this advice.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364600/Osmotherly_Rules_October_2014.pdf

Ministry of Defence

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK (a) funding, (b) personnel and (c) other resources have been used for civilian harm tracking as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Mark Lancaster: Expert analysts examine data from every UK strike to assess its effect with one of their priorities being to highlight any possible indications of civilian casualties or collateral damage. Information on potential civilian casualties reported to the Ministry of Defence by external parties is also assessed by the Department. The number of staff involved will vary depending on the circumstances of each case. The costs to the Department are not recorded separately.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the UK's rules of engagement are for Operation Inherent Resolve (a) overall and (b) in relation to planned and reactive strikes as part of combat air patrols.

Mark Lancaster: It is long standing policy not to release details of UK Rules of Engagement as to do so would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Shipping: Conferences

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reason was for cancelling the Maritime Conference at Chatham House on 7 July 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy decided to postpone the First Sea Lord's Chatham House Conference that had been planned for 7 July to prioritise the Defence Security and Equipment International 2017 exhibition as a better opportunity for discussion about the new era of maritime power.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish (a) his Department's response to the Better Combat Compensation consultation and (b) the submissions made to that consultation; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: I will make an announcement on the way forward in due course.

Korea: Military Exercises

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy for the UK not to participate in any further military exercises in the region of the Korean peninsula without prior parliamentary approval; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: As one of the 16 historic Sending States to the United Nations Command in Korea, the UK routinely contributes a small number of staff officers to annual joint United States - Republic of Korea exercises. In August 2017, the UK along with Australia, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, New Zealand and the Netherlands participated in Exercise ULCHI FREEDOM GUARDIAN. These exercises are in accordance with the UK's role in upholding the Korean Armistice Agreement, are defensive in nature and demonstrate our commitment to supporting peace and stability on the peninsula. We will continue to provide support to these exercises.

Ministry of Defence: Cybercrime

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cyber-attacks on his Department were prevented during the last 12 months.

Harriett Baldwin: Our systems are regularly targeted by criminals, foreign intelligence services and other malicious actors.I am withholding the specific information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Ministry of Defence.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cyber-security agreements have been reached with allied states in the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: The 2011 United Kingdom Cyber Security Strategy and the subsequent 2016 National Cyber Security Strategy both stress the importance of collaborating internationally to improve cyber security. The Ministry of Defence has developed relationships with other countries in line with these strategies, focused on the highest priority operational tasks and key operational military partners. In some cases, this has involved the signature of formal defence and security agreements. In others, it has involved lower level discussions between officials and informal programmes of activity. The following formal high-level agreements have been reached by the Ministry of Defence in the last five years that explicitly cover cyber security. The Defence Cyber Contact Group was established as a body operating under the Multi-Lateral Memorandum of Understanding signed on 23 June 2011, between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Subsequent amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding have allowed the membership of the Group to be extended to Canada and New Zealand. Its aim is to develop collaborative methods to support cyberspace activities. Cooperation on cyber defence involving these countries is also conducted under the Information Assurance and Computer Network Defence Memorandum of Understanding, which was amended in 2014. In September 2016, the Ministry of Defence concluded a joint Cyber Research and Development, Test and Evaluation Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Department of Defense to enhance bilateral collaborative development of capabilities for operations in cyberspace. The United Kingdom is also committed to co-operating on cyber defence in the context of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). At the Wales Summit in September 2014, NATO Leaders declared that they had endorsed an Enhanced Cyber Defence Policy, affirmed that cyber defence is part of NATO’s core task of collective defence, and committed themselves to enhancing national cyber defence capabilities. Further commitments to cyber defence were made at the Warsaw Summit in July 2017, when the United Kingdom committed to the Cyber Defence Pledge in which NATO members agreed to enhance their cyber defence capabilities. European Union and NATO members also made the Joint European Union-NATO Declaration, which stated member countries would “Expand our coordination on cyber security and defence including in the context of our missions and operations, exercises and on education and training.”

Syria: Military Intervention

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to support allied forces to defeat ISIS forces in Raqqa.

Mark Lancaster: As part of the Coalition, the RAF continues to carry out airstrikes in support of partner forces' operations against Daesh in Raqqah. Air support of this kind has helped the Syrian Democratic Forces to retake more than 65% of the city so far.

Caribbean: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which territories in the Caribbean the Royal Auxiliary Mounts Bay is supporting following Hurricane Irma.

Mark Lancaster: Over half a million British nationals - either residents or tourists - have been in the path of Hurricane Irma which has caused devastation across an area spanning well over a thousand miles.We are doing all we can to help them all as we deal with an extremely challenging situation but it is going to take time and we have to prioritise those most in need.Since Thursday 7 September COBR has met regularly to co-ordinate the Government's response - bringing together military, aid and consular effort.There are now over 1,100 military personnel and over 50 UK civil police in the Caribbean region, Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) MOUNTS BAY, two aircraft and four helicopters capable of transporting aid and personnel between the islands.Over the next few days a further 200 troops will be travelling to the Caribbean and a further medical evacuation team will arrive in the region to support the transport of patients requiring urgent medical assistance to medical facilities, bringing the total of these specialist teams up to three.More than 40 metric tonnes of aid has now arrived and is being distributed across the region - including 2,896 shelter kits, which can provide shelter for over 13,000 people, and 4,990 solar lanterns, which can provide essential light and power for over 11,000 people.RFA MOUNTS BAY was pre-positioned in the region ahead of hurricane season with vital aid supplies, specially trained military personnel and a Wildcat helicopter. This meant that when Hurricane Irma hit we could start getting help to Anguilla as soon as it was safe to do so.Initially MOUNTS BAY assisted Anguilla to restore power to the hospital, reinforced shelters, conducted reconnaissance of the airport, and delivered six tonnes of aid.From Friday 8 to Saturday 9 September, RFA MOUNTS BAY was in the British Virgin Islands assessing urgent requirements and providing humanitarian support. During this period troops were deployed to secure the airport and vital supplies were delivered to Tortola hospital. She also provided lifesaving supplies to 300 islanders on Jost Van Dyke who were cut off with no food, water, power or communications.RFA MOUNTS BAY subsequently resupplied with more essential aid before returning to Anguilla on Monday 11 September where she delivered building supplies to the airport to get it up and running and urgent medical supplies to the hospital.On Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 September, she returned to the British Virgin Islands where she continued to deliver aid, reconstruction stores and engineering assistance. She conducted a further resupply to Jost Van Dyke and engineers repaired a power plant which restored power supply to a large number of buildings including a water desalination plant.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Disability

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to report annually to Parliament on progress in tackling the disability employment gap as part of the annual report on full employment.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to reduce the disability employment gap.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has regional strategies for reducing the disability employment gap.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government is committed to improving employment outcomes for disabled people. The manifesto commitment gives a clear and time-bound goal to achieve this, which is to see 1 million more disabled people into work over the next 10 years. Since quarter 1 2016, the number of working aged disabled people in employment has increased by around 170,000 to 3.5 million in quarter 1 2017. The disability employment rate has increased by over 2 percentage points and now stands at 49 per cent. The number of disabled people in employment, according to the Labour Force Survey, is publicly available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08 We know that there is much more that needs to be done, so that everyone who can work is given the right support and opportunities to do so. That is why we published Improving Lives: the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper, which set out the action we plan to take to achieve this and start a far-reaching, national debate on what more we can do to ensure everyone is supported to reach their full potential. We are considering next steps, taking account of the Green Paper consultation, and will set out our response to this and future plans in due course, including supporting local effort and reporting arrangements.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis is for the projected increase in longevity for women affected by the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011.

Guy Opperman: The evidential basis for the projected increase in longevity for women affected by the Pensions Act 2011 is summarised in the Pensions Act 2011 impact assessment:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181462/pensions-bill-2011-ia-annexa.pdf Paragraphs 3 to 6 of the impact assessment illustrate the latest cohort life expectancies for the UK population, from the 2010-based principle population projections, which were published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A comparison is made with cohort life expectancies from the 2004-based principle population projections published by the Government Actuary’s Department, which were used to inform the Pensions Act 2007. The impact assessment showed that, compared with the 2004-based projections, life expectancy at state pension age in 2010 had increased by 1 year for males and by 1.3 years for females. The 1991 discussion paper “Options for equality in State Pension age” and the 1993 White Paper “Equality in State Pension age”, which informed the Pensions Act 1995, used previous life expectancy projections from the Government Actuary’s Department. Life expectancy is projected to continue to increase in future years (according to the latest 2014-based projections from the ONS). In forty years’ time, in 2057, average life expectancy at age 65 is projected to be over 4 years higher than it is now. By 2064 (the end of the current projection period) a baby girl will be expected to live to almost 100 (99.8 years). These life expectancy projections were an important input into the government’s review of State Pension age which was published in July of this year. As part of the review, government commissioned an independent report, led by John Cridland CBE, and a report from the Government Actuary. Both reports drew extensively on the life expectancy projections from the ONS. The next set of life expectancy projections from the ONS are due out later this year and every two years thereafter. The regular State Pension age reviews, at least every six years, will provide a structured framework for the Government to respond to any changes in the projections in the longer term.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is possible for all new claims for existing legacy benefits excluding universal credit to be processed through one single computer screen without needing to use more than one computer.

Caroline Dinenage: It is possible for all new claims for existing legacy benefits excluding universal credit to be processed through one single computer screen without needing to use more than one computer. DWP benefit processing agents normally only have one monitor and one PC each.

Department for Work and Pensions: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Caroline Dinenage: The value of payments made by the Department for Work and Pensions to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014 is listed in the table below.  YearValue2013-14£02014-15£1,4962015-16£132,2202016-17£83,9292017-18£80,830

Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of whether there is a correlation between the level of private sector rents in an area and the cost of providing supported housing in that area.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not available. Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government. We will set out further details on the Government’s plans in the autumn.

Employment and Support Allowance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the criteria for exemption from employment and support allowance reassessments for people with long-term health conditions.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which organisations his Department consulted when drawing up the criteria for exemption from employment and support allowance reassessments for people with long-term health conditions.

Penny Mordaunt: This change will come into effect in autumn 2017 and will apply to those with the most severe health conditions and disabilities who are placed in Employment and Support Allowance’s Support Group and the Universal Credit equivalent. We are working with stakeholders to finalise the criteria, once completed, the amended guidance will be incorporated into the Work Capability Assessment Handbook published annually on GOV.UK. This change will be reflected in the summer 2018 update. Through the development of the criteria we have consulted with a range of organisations, including representatives from some of the major health and disability charities through a stakeholder representative group.

Employment and Support Allowance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to maintain the exemptions from conditionality and sanctions accorded to people in the employment and support allowance support group.

Penny Mordaunt: Currently DWP does not have plans to change its policy on exemptions from conditionality and sanctions, for those people in the Employment and Support Allowance Support Group.

Employment: Disability

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to respond to the responses to his Department's consultation entitled, Work, Health and Disability: Improving Lives; and whether he plans to publish a White Paper on that subject.

Penny Mordaunt: Improving Lives; the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper was published on 31 October 2016 and the consultation closed on 17 February 2017. The Green Paper explored a range of ways to improve the prospects and transform the lives of disabled people by removing barriers that prevent them from working, and helping ensure that they are able to remain in employment. We received around 6000 responses and engaged in a wide range of conversations with stakeholders during the consultation period. We are now carefully considering the consultation responses and next steps for longer-term reform and will set these out in the autumn.

Personal Independence Payment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of exempting people with long-term progressive health conditions who are in receipt of the higher rate care and mobility personal independence payment components, from reassessment for that payment.

Penny Mordaunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 July 2017 to Question UIN 5325.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that personal independence payments claimants who suffer from a condition for which there is not yet any medication are not disadvantaged by that fact in their assessments.

Penny Mordaunt: The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to treat people as individuals, considering the impact of their impairment or health condition on their everyday life and how each claimant has personally adapted to living with a disability, whether or not medication is prescribed or used. The PIP assessment is not a medical assessment, requiring the Health Professional to diagnose a condition or its severity and recommend treatment options; instead it focuses on the claimant’s functional ability.There is no automatic entitlement to PIP by virtue of a health condition (except in terminal illness cases), either for new claimants or those claimants who were in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and who are being reassessed under PIP.The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

Access to Work Programme: Taxis

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants who no longer receive mobility payment are having taxis paid for under the Access to Work scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The data requested is not available.Access to Work support for travel to work is dependent on whether an individual has an inability to use public transport to travel to work, not whether they are in receipt of PIP. Therefore, this information is not collected.

Universal Credit: Payments

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit recipients have waited over six weeks for their first payment.

Damian Hinds: I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 11 September 2017 to questions 7328, 7329, 7431, 8923 and 9191.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and a delegation from WASPI Hull to discuss changes to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s.

Guy Opperman: There are no current plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign in the immediate future. This matter has been comprehensively debated on many occasions in Parliament, most recently in a Westminster Hall Debate on 5th July 2017 in which I stated I will be meeting the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) when it is reformed.

Occupational Pensions: Plumbing

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to prevent financial disbenefit for plumbers affected by section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995; and if he will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: DWP recognises the difficulties multi employer schemes such as the Plumbers have with the current Employer Debt legislation. The recent Green Paper “Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit pension schemes” explores these issues and during the consultation period officials have engaged with a range of stakeholders to explore potential legislative changes which could help multi employer schemes. We plan to respond on this issue in a White Paper later this winter.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Charitable Donations: Plastic Bags

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on steps to reduce the number of plastic bags posted unsolicited into letterboxes by charities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not had any discussions with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the specific issue of plastic bags posted unsolicited into letterboxes by charities.

Charitable Donations: Plastic Bags

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of unused plastic bags that end up in landfill that have been posted through letterboxes by the charity sector.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra has not made any estimate of the number of unused plastic bags that end up in landfill that have been posted through letterboxes by the charity sector.

Marine Conservation Zones

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the completion of the coastal Blue Belt around the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We aim to consult on the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones in English waters in the first half of 2018, with designations within 12 months of that date. The objective is to complete our contribution to the international ecologically-coherent network of Marine Protected Areas in the North East Atlantic by including a representative range of the species and habitats found in our seas.Marine protected areas in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter.

Environment: Courts

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which courts will enforce environmental legislation when the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: After we leave the European Union, the UK’s environmental legislation will be enforced and upheld by the courts in the various jurisdictions within the UK.

Microplastics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 13 March 2017 to Question 67199, when the results of the consultation on proposals to ban microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products will be published.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On Friday 21st July, the Government published the summary of responses to our consultation on plans to ban the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads.

Fly-tipping and Litter

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce littering and fly-tipping.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government published the first Litter Strategy for England on 10 April, setting out our aim to clean up the country. Our strategy is to apply best practice in education, enforcement and infrastructure to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering behaviour within a generation. The common aim of all the actions in the Litter Strategy is to change the behaviour of those who currently feel that it is acceptable to drop litter. The Strategy can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/litter-strategy-for-england Fly-tipping is unacceptable as it blights the areas where it occurs, imposes costs on those whose land is affected, can pose a risk to the environment or human health and it affects the livelihoods of those involved in the legitimate waste management business. We are committed to tackling fly-tipping and the Government has:given local authorities in England the power to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for small-scale fly-tipping, providing local authorities with an alternative to prosecutions and helping them take a proportionate enforcement response;made it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized;cracked down on offenders by strengthening the Sentencing Council’s Guideline for environmental offences, which came into force on 1 July 2014;strengthened the waste duty of care by publishing a revised Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice, that provides guidance to local authorities, regulators, waste industry and all those that produce, keep, import, treat, have control or dispose of controlled waste on how to comply with their waste duty of care obligations;supported the industry-led Right Waste Right Place campaign to promote Duty of Care to small businesses. The campaign will be targeting construction, retail and agricultural businesses; andchaired the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG) to prevent and tackle illegal dumping. The NFTPG includes representatives from central and local Government, enforcement authorities, the waste industry, and private landowners. The NFTPG has published a Fly-tipping Partnership Framework outlining best practice for the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipping to be adapted to suit local circumstances, and a series of fly-tipping prevention guides for householders, businesses and landowners.

Bottles: Recycling

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles to increase recycling rates.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As part of the Litter Strategy for England that was published in April this year, we have established a working group to look at different voluntary and economic incentives to improve the recycling and reuse of packaging, and to reduce the incidence of commonly littered items. As well as voluntary models, the scope of the working group includes consideration of regulatory options and measures to target particular types of item or product, including the full cost impacts and benefits of different types of deposit and reward and return schemes for drink containers including plastic bottles. This working group will be consulting widely in developing its evidence base and analysis.

White Fish: Origin Marking

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to protect the status of Great Grimsby smoked haddock after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Traditional Grimsby Smoked Fish has rightly been recognised as a Protected Food Name which celebrates the traditional method of production, local provenance and the skills of those involved. Countries outside the EU are already able to participate in the EU's Protected Food Name scheme when selling onto the EU market. In addition, the EU rules that currently govern the enforcement of Protected Food Names will be placed on a UK legal basis through the EU Withdrawal Bill. The UK will continue to abide by WTO rules on the protection of geographical indications globally.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Insulation: Testing

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment  he has made of the effectiveness of the testing regime to establish the legality of cladding.

Alok Sharma: In line with expert advice, the first step to identify other buildings of concern following the Grenfell Tower tragedy was initial screening tests on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding samples. These generic tests are identifying which blocks have cladding which is not of limited combustibility, as defined in current Building Regulations guidance. The independent expert advisory panel recommended further large scale testing of cladding systems be undertaken according to the British Standard BS8414-1 and classified to BR135, the standard set out in current Building Regulations guidance. The large scale system tests provide more information about how cladding systems behave in a fire. The large scale tests are now complete and results can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/latest-government-large-scale-fire-safety-test-results-published

Pedestrian Areas: Disability

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proposals his Department plans to put in place to ensure that disabled people are better able to move freely along street pavements without obstruction from cars, street furniture and advertising materials.

Alok Sharma: The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear the importance of planning for safe and accessible environments while our planning guidance states that streets should be designed to be functional and accessible for all and not just respond to engineering considerations.Licensing for advertising, street furniture and parking is a responsibility for each local authority.

Housing: Disability

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to increase the level of funding for the supply of specialist housing to meet the needs of disabled people and wheelchair users.

Alok Sharma: Supported housing supports many vulnerable people, including those with disabilities, to live independently. That is why we have committed to providing £400 million of funding announced in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme to deliver affordable homes for the vulnerable, elderly and those with disabilities. Furthermore, the Department of Health has committed £224.5 million to date through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund. Since 2011, we have delivered 27,000 units of specialist and general housing for disabled, vulnerable and older people.Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government. We will set out further details on the Government’s plans in the autumn.

Housing: Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of bungalows required to meet the health needs of wheelchair users and people with disabilities in East Durham.

Alok Sharma: Local authorities are best placed to understand the housing needs in their area. National policy sets out clearly the need for local planning authorities to plan for the housing needs of all members of the community and it is for Durham County Council to work closely with key partners and local communities in deciding what type of housing is needed to meet local need, including bungalows.   We have published a data sheet setting out information and statistics on older and disabled peoples’ needs to act as a starting point for local authorities wishing to develop suitable policies.Our Housing White Paper sets out two ways in which the planning system will be used to deliver more suitable homes for people with disabilities:We are proposing to strengthen the National Planning Policy Framework so that local planning authorities are expected to have clear policies for addressing the housing requirements of groups with particular needs, such as disabled people; andThe Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 introduced a new statutory duty on the Secretary of State to produce guidance for local planning authorities on how their local development documents should meet the housing needs of older and disabled people.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2017 to Question 4915, on Grenfell Tower: Fires, how many cladding samples were tested during the initial testing phase; and if he will publish the results of those tests.

Alok Sharma: As of 10 September 2017 the Building Research Establishment had received 1523 samples to be tested under the Government’s screening programme.All 538 samples which were Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding have been tested and landlords informed of the result. The remaining samples were not ACM and therefore outside the scope of the Government’s screening programme.

Leasehold

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for implementing the ban on new build homes being sold as leasehold.

Alok Sharma: The public consultation, ‘Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market’, looks at a range of measures to help tackle unfair and unreasonable abuses of the leasehold system. The consultation closes on 19 September 2017. The Government cannot pre-empt the consultation or comment while it is still on going. We will review all responses and respond in due course.

Empty Property: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote the refurbishment of empty and vacant homes.

Alok Sharma: The number of empty homes in England is at its lowest since records began in 2004. In May 2010 over 300,000 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months. As of October 2016 the number of long-term empty properties had fallen to 200,145. Local authorities have powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes.Through the New Homes Bonus they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.Councils may also charge up to 150 per cent council tax for homes empty for over two years.

Railways: Tickets

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on introducing flexible ticketing for part-time commuters.

Mr Marcus Jones: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given on 11 September to Question UIN 8612.

Salvation Army: Supported Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the representations made by the Salvation Army on the effect of universal credit on the Salvation Army's provision of supported housing.

Mr Marcus Jones: I can confirm that a response was sent to a Salvation Army letter regarding our plans for the funding reforms for supported housing on Tuesday 5 September.Developing a workable and sustainable funding model for supported housing is a priority for the Government.We will set out further details on our plans in the autumn.

Refuges: Gloucestershire

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure the increase in provision of refuges in Gloucestershire.

Mr Marcus Jones: Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that victims, regardless of their circumstances, receive the support they need when they need it.Refuges provide a critical bedrock of support for victims of domestic abuse and their families.Since 2014, we have invested over £33.5 million in services to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges.Local authorities in Gloucestershire have benefitted from this funding during the same period. They have used the funding to provide refuges, specialist accommodation-based support, community and outreach services to ensure no victims of domestic abuse is turned away from the support they need.The funding is also being used to provide dedicated support to victims from minority communities and their families in the Gloucestershire area.

Local Government Finance: Stroud

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to reassess the level of funding to be reclaimed from Stroud District Council as a result of changes to council tax and rent support arrangements.

Mr Marcus Jones: Local authorities in England were offered a four year funding deal from 2016-17, which 97 per cent of authorities, including Stroud District Council, accepted. The 2016-17 Local Government Finance Settlement allocated Revenue Support Grant by looking at the main resources available to councils, taking account of funding that councils can raise locally, namely council tax and business rates. This ensured that councils delivering the same set of services received the same percentage change in the funding available to provide those services.The local government finance settlement is subject to an annual statutory consultation exercise, offering an opportunity each year to consider representations from all authorities.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has paid in letting fees for its estate in each year since 2010.

Mr Marcus Jones: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Department for Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many procurements undertaken by his Department have taken more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) one year and (d) two years.

Mr Marcus Jones: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Homelessness

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement made by him and the Prime Minister on 21 December 2016, on tackling homelessness, when he expects the trials of the Housing First model to begin.

Mr Marcus Jones: In December 2016 the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced support for 84 projects through our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme, to deliver an end-to-end approach to homelessness prevention, which included £30 million for Rough Sleepers. A number of these areas are already using the Housing First model as part of their approach.We are also aiming to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. To achieve this we are setting up a rough sleeping and homelessness taskforce and piloting a Housing First approach on a larger scale to tackle rough sleeping. We will announce further details shortly.This should be a country that works for everyone, especially the most vulnerable in society, and we are committed to making sure everyone has a roof over their heads.

Non-domestic Rates

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the £300 million discretionary rate relief fund to support businesses has been issued to ratepayers.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many starter homes have been built in each of the last five years.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Non-domestic Rates

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have published details of the eligibility criteria for the £300 million discretionary relief fund to support businesses with increased rates bills; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Right to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what right to buy receipts local authorities have paid to the Exchequer in (a) capital receipts, (b) interest accrued and (c) any other relevant amount in each financial year from 2012-13.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Empty Property: Greater London

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to support bringing derelict homes back into use in Greater London.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many Homes and Communities Agency-funded affordable homes, by tenure, were (a) started and (b) completed in each financial year since 2008-09 in (i) Bromsgrove, (ii) Reading and (iii) Windsor and Maidenhead local authority areas.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Overseas Students

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the potential underestimation of student emigration in the International Passenger Survey on the ability of local authorities to assess housing needs accurately.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Development

Commonwealth: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to uphold the commitment it made at the 9th Commonwealth Youth Ministers meeting outlined in point 4 of the Final Communiqué to take meaningful and concrete actions to empower and address the specific needs of marginalised young people in Commonwealth countries.

Alistair Burt: DFID’s recently published Economic Development strategy sets out our firm commitment to economic inclusion, and focus on the poorest and most marginalised young people who are routinely excluded and experience multiple barriers including social discrimination, unfair laws and violence. We will work to expand job opportunities for rising youth populations and will do more to help people with disabilities access productive employment by ensuring that people with disabilities are systematically included in economic development programmes and approaches.We have led the way on reaching the most marginalised children including through flagship programmes such as the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) which is supporting 1 million of the world’s most marginalised girls in a number of Commonwealth countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya.

Sustainable Development: Children and Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda commitments towards children and youth by 2030 are achieved.

Alistair Burt: The UK remains firmly committed to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals both at home and abroad. The SDGs cannot be achieved without a strong focus on children and young people.We are committed to supporting education in particular for the most marginalised. We have stepped up on education in emergencies through our funding of Education Cannot Wait and funded 380,000 teachers through our multilateral contributions. Through the Girls Education Challenge we are getting more girls with disabilities into school and learning. As a founding board member of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, we are mobilising the international community to better protect children.We are also committed to driving youth employment; our new Economic Development strategy sets out our commitment to creating more jobs and we are supporting a range of programmes to build employability skills.

Developing Countries: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that young people in developing countries are able to access social services and work opportunities.

Alistair Burt: The UK is taking a range of steps, from supporting young people in poor and vulnerable households with basic needs, to promoting positive sexual and reproductive health, a cornerstone of adolescent well-being and inclusive economic development.Education is key to improving young people’s lives and economic opportunities – especially for girls. Our priority is to ensure all boys and girls have access to a decent education and are learning. We focus on basic education, but where country context dictates, we complement this through support to upper secondary, technical and higher education.Increasing skills among young people will not lead to increased employment unless there are jobs for them to enter - and there is too little productive work for young people in developing countries. Our economic development strategy, therefore, focuses on creating more and better jobs while supporting a skilled and healthy workforce, ensuring that young people both benefit from, and drive, inclusive growth.

Commonwealth Development Corporation: Finance

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent progress she has made on the recapitalisation of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC); and what plans she has to enable parliamentary scrutiny of the CDC Business Case and its recapitalisation.

Priti Patel: The passage of the CDC Bill earlier this year enabled significant, and welcome, parliamentary scrutiny of CDC as an institution, and of the case for recapitalisation of it. Issues raised by Parliamentarians from all sides of the House fed into CDC 2017-21 Strategic Framework, launched earlier this year. As is normal practice, the CDC recapitalisation business case will be subject to government review and quality assurance processes, and will be published once approved by Ministers. My Department will continue to engage closely with Parliamentarians on all aspects of CDC’s work, and we welcome constructive input from all sources.

Sustainable Development: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to uphold the commitment it made at the 9th Commonwealth Youth Ministers meeting outlined in point 2 of the Final Communiqué to ensure that young people play a central role in achieving inclusive and sustainable development and in helping the global community to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Alistair Burt: DFID supports the principle of providing young people with a genuine say in shaping a positive future for their countries. This was illustrated most recently at the 2017 Family Planning summit, which had a Youth Panel that helped set the agenda.We are also working directly with 5-18 year olds in the UK through our Development Education programme, investing in a new generation of Global Britain ambassadors, proud of the work the UK is doing to tackle global poverty, and better prepared to live and eventually work in a globalised economy. Through the government’s International Citizen Service programme DFID has enabled over 25,000 young volunteers from the UK and developing countries to work on projects tackling poverty in developing countries.

HM Treasury

Private Finance Initiative

Grahame Morris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much debt the Government owes on existing private finance initiative contracts.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury does collect and publish information on the unitary charges of PFI projects. The unitary charge covers the payment of debt interest and repayment as well as services. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-and-private-finance-2-projects-2016-summary-data. We do not collect data on the unitary charge broken down into its constituent parts, including the amount of debt owed by the project company.

Local Government: Devolution

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the projected spend is for each City Deal in each of the next five years.

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much (a) central government and (b) local government has invested in each of the City Deals in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: The government has committed to invest almost £1.6 billion in City Deals in Scotland and Wales. Of this, £500m will be invested in the Cardiff City Deal over a 20 year period and £115.6m will be invested in the Swansea City Deal over a 15 year period. The government remains committed to agreeing a North Wales Growth Deal. Further detail on the funding of the Cardiff and Swansea City Deals can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508268/Cardiff_Capital_Region_City_Deal.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/611685/Swansea_City_Deal_-_English.pdf

Taxation

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the current tax gap is attributable to companies with a turnover between £10,000 and £11,500.

Mel Stride: Due to small sample sizes, it is not possible to estimate a tax gap for companies with a turnover between £10,000 and £11,500.The total corporation tax gap was 7.6% in 2014-15, down from 11.4% in 2009-10.

Public Sector: Pay

Catherine West: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to lift the one per cent public sector pay cap for (a) police and (b) prison officers.

Elizabeth Truss: I set out the Government’s response to the independent pay review body reports on police and prison officer pay for 2017-18 in the House of Commons on 12 September 2017: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-09-12/HCWS127/

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Peter Kyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) other businesses potentially affected by the judgment in the Mazars v Woolway case; what estimate he has made of the potential average extra cost on (i) small and (ii) medium-sized businesses resulting from the judgment in the Mazars v Woolway case; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: In July 2015, the Supreme Court, in the Mazars v Woolway case, clarified existing rating law relating to communal spaces such as staircases, corridors and lifts. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a legal duty to adapt its practices to reflect the judgment. The VOA assesses the value of property and not the businesses that occupy the property. As such, it does not hold information on whether the occupant of a property is a small or medium business.

Revenue and Customs: Glasgow

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) capacity and (b) occupancy level is for each of the HM Revenue and Customs offices which are to be consolidated into the proposed regional centre in Glasgow.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of its proposals to relocate HM Revenue and Customs staff to a regional office in Glasgow on disabled staff.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff are employed at each HM Revenue and Customs office to be consolidated to form the proposed regional centre in Glasgow.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the rental liability is for each of the HM Revenue and Customs sites which are proposed to be consolidated in the new regional centre in Glasgow.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the proposed office capacity is at the HM Revenue and Customs regional centre in Glasgow.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) conducted a high level people impact assessment using known workforce management data to inform the regional centre location decisions. People and equality impacts are managed at both programme and regional level to mitigate potential impacts on different groups, including disabled staff. The regional people and equality impact assessment is undertaken early in the project and is updated on a regular basis throughout the project. All staff are offered a one-to-one discussion, normally about a year before any office move which affects them, to establish whether they can move. Under the reasonable adjustment policy, HMRC will work with individuals with particular needs to identify any adjustments required to enable this. Accessibility to regional centres has been factored into overall requirements for those centres from the outset. As previously announced, the Glasgow Regional Centre is expected to have between 2,700 and 3,000 full time equivalent posts when it opens. East Kilbride will be retained as a transitional site beyond the opening date of the Glasgow Regional Centre until 2025-26. The number of current full time equivalent staff employed at the offices which will feed into the Glasgow Regional Centre is shown in the table below.  LocationOfficeClosure date as announcedFull Time Equivalent Employees as of 31/08/2017Destination by 2021CumbernauldAccounts Office Timing depends on Accounts Office in Shipley2019-20980Glasgow Regional CentreGlasgowPortcullis House2019-20800Glasgow Regional CentreGlasgowCotton House2019-20570Glasgow Regional CentreEast KilbridePlaza Tower2020-21750East Kilbride Transitional SiteGlasgowCotton House2019-201600East Kilbride Transitional Site  Specific details about the rental liability of the current HMRC offices in the Glasgow area is commercially sensitive information; disclosing it could compromise the future ability of the landlords to re-let the buildings.

Revenue and Customs: Scotland

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of staff contracted to work at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices in (a) Portcullis House and (b) Cotton House, Glasgow are routinely based in HMRC Cumbernauld.

Mel Stride: Information on whether a member of staff is routinely based at another office is not held centrally and so could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Gaming Machines: Tax Yields

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much accrued to the public purse in taxation from fixed-odds betting terminals in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Total receipts from Betting and Gaming duties are published here:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx A separate breakdown for revenue from Fixed Odds Betting Terminals is not available.

Taxation: Domicil

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) effect on the UK economy and (b) costs to the public purse of Overseas Workday Relief.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs have not made an assessment of the effect of Overseas Workday Relief (OWR) on the UK economy and there are currently no plans to do so. OWR is a tax relief which attracts people in to work in the UK. Around £500m of foreign earnings are not taxable in the UK as a result of OWR. However, those claiming this relief pay on average around £50,000 per year in taxes to the UK Exchequer. In addition, they bring talent, expertise and diversity to the UK.

Funerals: Regulation

Liz McInnes: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing statutory regulation of pre-paid funeral plans.

Stephen Barclay: The provision of a pre-paid funeral plan is defined as a regulated activity and falls within the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory remit unless specific exemption criteria are met. This arrangement and these exemption criteria are set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001. HM Treasury sets the legislative framework for the regulation of financial services, including the provision of pre-paid funeral plans, and continues to keep such exemptions under review.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Location

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which of his Department's functions are carried out in (a) England and (b) London; and what the administrative costs were of those functions in each of those areas in the last year for which figures are available.

Caroline Nokes: All of the functions of my Department are carried out in England. During 2016/17, on average, 2,557 staff were employed in London and a further 150 in England outside of London. Administration costs for the year 2016-17 are set out in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

Government Departments: Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by what means the Government ensures the cyber security of its departments, agencies or other public bodies that use websites other than those on gov.uk.

Caroline Nokes: Each department, agency or public body is responsible for managing the cyber security of their own organisation’s internet access, including the use of web filters and security tools. The UK’s cyber security technical authority, the National Cyber Security Centre, provides guidance to departments on how to secure their internet access. The NCSC has also developed Active Cyber Defence measures some of which are available to the public sector. One measure is DNS (Domain Name System) filtering that blocks registered public sector organisations from accessing sites that are known to contain malware or are fraudulent. As of August 2017, the service is up and running with 44 government organisations actively blocking users from accessing insecure domains.

Public Sector: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cases referred to the Government's mystery shopper service requested anonymity.

Caroline Nokes: The majority of Mystery Shopper service users request anonymity. However, with payment cases suppliers are usually willing to waive their right to anonymity in order to resolve the issue promptly. The exact number of service users requesting anonymity since the service began is not known as this information was not originally recorded.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which local authorities have expressed interest in conducting a voter ID pilot in polling stations at local elections in May 2018; and which forms of photo and non-photo ID will be tested in such pilots.

Chris Skidmore: The voter ID pilot schemes are part of a comprehensive programme of reform that will enhance public confidence in our elections, and strengthen electoral integrity. We will make an announcement in due course of which local authorities will pilot voter ID in May 2018. We are working with those local authorities to agree the forms of photo and non-photo ID that will be tested.

Cabinet Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost was of the privatisation of the Behavioural Insights Team.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost to his Department was of (a) legal advice and (b) consultants with regard the privatisation of the Behavioural Insights Team.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff external to the Civil Service have been seconded into the Behavioural Insights Team and from which firms in each year for which figures are available.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many hours civil servants of his Department spent on the privatisation of the Behavioural Insights Team; and what the estimated cost was of staff time spent on that privatisation.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) he or (b) officials of his Department were aware that after privatisation the Behavioural Insights Team planned to (a) open an office in Singapore and (b) operate in any other tax haven.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what oversight his Department has over the work of the Behavioural Insights Team relating to its (a) remit and (b) clients.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what services his Department has received from the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

Caroline Nokes: The Cabinet Office has received services from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) since 2014. This has enabled the department to add to its evidence base to support priority government areas. Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archiveThose published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search BIT was made into a social purpose company in 2014 and is part owned by the Cabinet Office. BIT’s Articles of Association restricts the type of work that the organisation can undertake to that which promotes the public good. The Articles of Association can be viewed here:https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08567792 The Cabinet Office has a representative Board member on BIT’s Board, which meets regularly (on average once per month) and is provided with detailed information on BIT’s clients via the monthly Board pack. The Crown Commercial Service Behavioural Insights Consulting and Research Framework Agreement contains a conflicts of interest provision. This can be viewed at:https://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm3742 We are not in a position to provide information about staff or organisational decisions of Behavioural Insights Team Limited, due to commercial confidentiality.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the merits of including housing associations in the list of bodies subject to freedom of information requests in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Caroline Nokes: Housing Associations do not meet the conditions for inclusion within Schedule 1 of the FOI Act. However the Government keeps the scope of the Act under constant review.

Cabinet Office: Annual Reports

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department plans to publish its annual report and accounts for 2016-17.

Caroline Nokes: The Cabinet Office's 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts was laid on 14 September 2017.

Devolution: Dispute Resolution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the occasions that the (a) Welsh and (b) Scottish Governments have initiated the formal dispute resolution process with the Government.

Damian Green: The formal dispute resolution process has been used by the Welsh and Scottish Governments in the following instances:In 2010/11 by the Welsh GovernmentIn 2010/11 by the Scottish GovernmentIn 2011/12 by the Welsh and Scottish Governments with the Northern Ireland Executive

Corruption

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the new anti-corruption strategy.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is working on a new Anti-Corruption Strategy which will be published in due course.

Zero Hours Contracts: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of Welsh workers were on zero-hours contracts in each year for which data is available.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to PQ9549
(PDF Document, 126.36 KB)

Government Departments: Iron and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 9289, on iron and steel: procurement, what progress each Government department is making in delivering greater UK steel content in line with the Government's new public procurement guidelines published in April 2016.

Caroline Nokes: This information is not held centrally.All public authorities are required to implement government guidelines that set out how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade complies with the Equality Act 2010.We encourage people who require our information provided in alternative formats, to tell us what format they need it in, and what assistive technology they use, to help us meet their needs. We also caption and subtitle video content as a matter of routine.As a department, we host a wide range of events. We ask all attendees to confirm their needs prior to the event taking place and provide a British Sign Language signer where it has been requested in advance.

Foreign Investment in UK

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the total amount of foreign investment to the UK from other EU member states was; and what percentage of this investment was for Wales in each year for which data are available.

Mark Garnier: The table below shows the total amount of stock investment into the UK from EU Member States for each year from 2006 to 2015. This data is published by the Office for National Statistics, but it is not available at a UK geographical level. YearAmount £ million2006299,9062007290,8012008317,3752009344,3442010347,4692011366,4002012452,2762013462,3422014490,2452015431,174Source:Office for National Statistics

UK Export Finance: Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many companies helped by UK Export Finance have been part of a supply chain for (a) renewables and (b) oil and gas projects in each financial year since 2010.

Mark Garnier: UK Export Finance (UKEF) publishes details of the companies it has supported on an annual basis in its Annual Report and Accounts which is presented to Parliament and on its website. These details include the type of project or export supported. The companies that were supported by UKEF may have been involved in other projects which did not receive UKEF support, as part of supply chains in a range of other sectors. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-export-finance-annual-reports-and-accounts

UK Export Finance: Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether, when assessing the environmental, social and human rights aspects of proposals supporting activities in the oil and gas sectors, UK Export Finance considers the effect of those proposals on climate change.

Mark Garnier: UK Export Finance (UKEF) carries out screening and due diligence on projects including cross cutting climate change issues as part of its environmental and social review process. Its reviews are carried out by its specialist Environmental and Social Management team and are benchmarked against international standards. Where climate change related issues are identified and UKEF support is provided, these are subject to ongoing monitoring.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether any revisions to the timescale for implementing the broadband universal service obligation have been made since the 2017 General Election.

Matt Hancock: The Government is committed to ensuring universal broadband access to at least 10Mbps, so that no home or business is left behind. We are currently considering two options for delivering this: a regulatory USO and a voluntary offer from BT and Openreach.

Broadband

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on the provision of fibre optic broadband for exchange-only telephone lines.

Matt Hancock: We are determined to ensure even better digital connectivity right across the UK. We are focused on improving, and future-proofing, the country's digital infrastructure, with a particular focus on full fibre connectivity.We have previously announced a package of measures worth £1.1 billion at Autumn Statement 2016 to support this:The Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, which was launched on 3 July 2017 will provide finance for new fibre investments.The Local Full Fibre Networks programme, which will support local bodies in stimulating the market for fibre connectivity in their areas.A Bill to enable business rates relief for new fibre build.Together, these investments and incentives will stimulate the market to deliver the increase in capacity that is needed.For those that do not see improved connectivity through publicly funded and commercial investment, we will ensure universal broadband coverage of at least 10Mbps, so that no home or business is left behind.

Broadband: Scotland

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has contributed to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme; and what other support her Department has given to the rollout of superfast broadband in Scotland.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on the roll-out of superfast broadband.

Matt Hancock: I refer the hon member to my response to the question from the member from Orkney and Shetland during DCMS questions today in the chamber.

Charitable Donations: Plastic Bags

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the charity sector on the practice of posting plastic bags through people's letterboxes.

Tracey Crouch: I have met with the Fundraising Regulator to discuss a range of matters regarding charity fundraising. The Fundraising Regulator has updated the Code of Fundraising Practice in relation to house to house collections of goods. From 30 September 2017 charities must not deliver bags to properties that display a notice clearly indicating that the householder does not wish to donate through this method.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what services her Department has received from the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

Matt Hancock: DCMS has received services from the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014. This has enabled the department to add to its evidence base to support priority government areas. Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Public Libraries: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of children's librarians in each of the last five years.

John Glen: The Department does not collect data on the number of children's librarians in public libraries in England.

British Telecom: Occupational Pensions

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2017 to Question 5938, on occupational pensions: British Telecom, whether in the event of BT entering insolvent winding up, 100 per cent of BT Pension Scheme claimants' pension payments will be paid under the Crown Guarantee.

Matt Hancock: I refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQ 5938.

Gambling

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people identified as problem gamblers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: The 2012 England and Scotland Health Survey estimated that the problem gambling prevalence rate among adults in England and Scotland was 0.6% which equated to approximately 280,000 people. The latest data available is through the 2015 Health Survey for Great Britain, published on 24 August (NatCen report), which estimated that the problem gambling prevalence rate among adults in Great Britain was 0.8% which equated to approximately 430,000 people. We take problem gambling seriously and launched the review last year and I hope to publish the findings in October.Further information on the 2012 data can be found here:http://natcen.ac.uk/media/308703/gambling-england-scotland-headline-report-to-gc-v1-0.pdf Further information on the 2015 data can be found here: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-behaviour-in-Great-Britain-2015.pdf

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Chief Scientific Advisers

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will appoint a chief scientific advisor.

Matt Hancock: The department does not currently employ a Chief Scientific Adviser, though this position is regularly reviewed.

Sports: Discrimination

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle discrimination in sport.

Tracey Crouch: I refer the Hon. member to my response to question from the member for Lewisham Deptford in the chamber this morning.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to improve broadband provision in rural areas in the next five years.

Matt Hancock: Superfast Broadband is now available to nearly 94% of premises in the UK and is on track to reach 95% by the end of 2017. Reinvestment of efficiency savings and gainshare from the government programme, coupled with further commercial roll out, means that coverage can increase. By 2020, we will ensure universal broadband availability of at least 10Mbps, so that no home or business is left behind.

Digital Technology

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the digital and tech industries.

Matt Hancock: Ensuring that the UK's digital and technology sectors remain strong and at the forefront of international innovation and enterprise are priorities for this Government Since the 2016 referendum, we have carried out extensive and diverse engagement with hundreds of businesses of all sizes across the UK on the potential implications of our withdrawal from the EU, alongside extensive wider analysis and engagement. Investment continues to flow into the UK’s tech businesses as they go from strength to strength. Only yesterday, FinTech start-up Neyber received a huge £100m boost.

Department of Health

Dementia: Hearing Aids

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Lancet Commission's recommendations on hearing loss in the report on dementia prevention, intervention and care, published in July 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect on dementia prevention proposals to restrict hearing aid provision for those with mild or moderate hearing loss.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for the provision of hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss within their local population. As with other services CCGs commission, they should take into consideration assessments of local need and any relevant guidance. To help inform and support commissioners in making local decisions, NHS England published, in July 2016, ‘Commissioning services for people with hearing loss: A framework for clinical commissioning groups’. The Framework acknowledges the benefits of addressing hearing loss in the prevention of conditions such as dementia.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of neuromuscular care advisors for people with muscle-wasting conditions.

Steve Brine: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised neurological services, including some services for patients with neuromuscular disorders. NHS England has published a service specification for neurological care that includes an exemplar service specification for neuromuscular conditions which sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. The service specification for neurological care can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdfNHS providers, working with local area teams, may establish patient access to neuromuscular care advisers if they consider it would benefit service provision and such decisions are a local matter.

General Practitioners: Attendance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many did-not-attends and drop-outs from appointments occurred in GP practices in (a) Barnsley and (b) England in each of the last 12 months.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance NHS England publishes on minimising GP appointment drop-outs and did-not-attends.

Steve Brine: NHS England does not currently hold information on the number of patients who did not attend general practitioner (GP) appointments on either a local or national level. NHS England has directed NHS Digital to gather this information as a part of a new national collection of GP workload information. This collection will begin shortly. NHS England has not issued guidance on minimising missed GP appointments. This is tackled on a local level as GP practices are best placed to understand the needs of their patients.

Department of Health: Sign Language

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department takes to provide (a) information on its services in British Sign Language (BSL) and (b) correspondence in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL; and what steps he has taken to encourage GPs and other practitioners to provide (i) prescriptions, (ii) details of medical appointments and (iii) other essential personal medical documents in BSL to people whose principal language is BSL.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Departmental publications are available in British Sign Language (BSL) on request. The Department does not provide a correspondence service in BSL, nor has it received any requests for such a service. General practitioners and other health and care professionals have a legal duty to comply with the Accessible Information Standard, which sets out a series of requirements that organisations providing National Health Service care or publicly funded social care in England must follow. These include arranging for communication support, including support to BSL users, where this is needed for effective communication. The Standard does not direct how such support should be arranged or funded, as this is a matter for local decision.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equal access to IVF treatment across the UK.

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce regional variations in the availability of free-of-charge IVF treatment.

Mr Philip Dunne: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning local health services and ensuring the needs of the local health population are met. NHS England is responsible for oversight of the commissioning system. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are evidence based best practice for clinicians but are not mandatory. NHS England has advised that the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) benchmark price will be developed during 2017/18 with support from the IVF Expert Advisory Group and all key stakeholders, working towards publishing the IVF benchmark price ready for the financial year 2018/19. It is also planning to develop and test an IVF outcome based payment approach with a number of CCGs and service providers in 2018/19. NHS England and professional and stakeholder groups including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, are working together to develop commissioning guidance. This guidance aims to improve the quality of commissioning and further encourage the implementation of the NICE fertility guidelines. NHS England has agreed to disseminate and promote the commissioning guidance to all CCGs in England.

NHS: Procurement

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on reviewing the operation of the internal market in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department regularly considers the operation of the health and care system including the different mechanisms that enable commissioners to secure high-quality, sustainable services for patients. Where improvements can be made to secure greater value for patients and taxpayers, we will work with the National Health Service to ensure they are delivered.

Urinary System: Diseases

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent by the NHS on unplanned admissions associated with urinary tract infections in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Candida Auris

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional funding from the public purse is available to NHS trusts that experience an outbreak of Candida auris.

Steve Brine: National Health Service trusts are responsible for taking action to prevent, control and manage occurrences of infection. They are expected to have policies in place to enable them to deal with an outbreak as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance; no additional routine funding is available for outbreaks of Candida Auris.

Hospitals: Admissions

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of private sector referral management schemes.

Mr Philip Dunne: National Health Service commissioners and providers need to work together to manage demand and plan sufficient capacity to maintain low waiting times. Referral management and assessment services can be a highly effective way of ensuring only those patients who need to go to hospital do so. Commissioners use referral management centres, as well as clinical triage and assessment centres, to ensure patients are treated by the most appropriate clinical professional as quickly as possible. It does not make sense for patients to be referred to hospital directly when they can be more appropriately (and more quickly) treated elsewhere. Referral management and assessment services should only be in place where they carry clinical support and provide benefits to patients. They must not be devices that delay treatment or lead to waiting times not being properly recorded. It is for individual clinical commissioning groups to assess the effectiveness of the services provided by referral management schemes in line with the contracts held to provide these services.

NHS: Reorganisation

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether individual clinical commissioning groups are required to comply with the majority decision of a sustainability and transformation plan board.

Steve Brine: Sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) are not statutory organisations, but a way for the National Health Service and local government to work together. The STP process does not alter the existing accountabilities of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities and NHS provider organisations.Each STP footprint has agreed its own governance and representation, depending on local circumstances to ensure that all relevant NHS bodies and partners are included. CCGs are a fundamental part of a STP and are bound by this agreed governance arrangement.

Rare Diseases: Medical Treatments

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NICE process for reviewing new treatments for rare diseases.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is the independent, expert body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether drugs and other treatments represent an effective use of NHS resources. The methods and processes it uses in the development of its guidance are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive engagement with a full range of stakeholders, including the Department, and are periodically reviewed to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

Pathology

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate levels of cellular pathology staff in the NHS.

Mr Philip Dunne: As of May 2017 there are 2,632 full time equivalent healthcare scientists working in the area of Cellular Sciences, which includes Cellular Pathology. The Department is committed to improving cancer services, including through investment in the diagnostic workforce. Health Education England has committed to publishing a cancer workforce plan before the end of the year.

Urinary System: Diseases

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the recommended antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced a Quality Standard (QS90) in 2015 in order to advise upon the diagnosis, management and treatment of urinary tract infections in adults to a high quality of care. It includes assessment, antibiotic treatment and referral for specialist assessment. It describes high-quality care and priority areas for improvement. NICE reviewed the Quality Standard in 2016 and determined that it was still effective and up to date.

NHS: North West

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the remuneration is of the Chair and Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.

Steve Brine: The annual remuneration for the Cheshire and Merseyside Independent Chair, Andrew Gibson is £150,000. Mel Pickup has been appointed Chief Executive Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Partnership alongside her substantive role as Chief Executive at Warrington Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Her time will be divided equally, and her annual salary cost of £82,500 will be reimbursed to the Trust.

Medicine: Education

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nursing, midwifery and allied health students started their studies in each of the last three years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The following table shows the total number of nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (AHPs) who started studies in England in each of the last three academic years.Course2014/152015/162016/17Nursing19,14719,94920,888Midwifery2,5352,5912,602AHPs7,7317,9028,299 Source: Health Education England EdCom returns

NHS: Consultants

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many sustainability and transformation partnerships have employed private sector consultants as part of the Accountable Care System process.

Steve Brine: It is for each partner within every sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) area to decide where they may need support or advice from external organisations. All partners within each STP area need to be disciplined about keeping costs as low as possible as they work to alleviate pressures on the National Health Service, and improve patient care. NHS England does not hold this information centrally. The vast majority of work within STP areas has been by existing staff, sometimes in addition to their normal duties.

Orkambi

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide an update on negotiations between NICE and the drug manufacturer Vertex on the potential use of the drug Orkambi.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance on the use of lumacaftor-ivacaftor (Orkambi) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in July 2016. NICE plans to review its guidance to determine whether it should be updated in the light of any new evidence in 2019. If significant new evidence comes to light before the scheduled review date, NICE has processes in place to bring forward a review. NICE remains open to a further approach from the company, with new evidence or a revised price. Although there has been recent correspondence between NHS England and the company, NICE has not yet received any fresh proposals from the company.

Psychiatry: Education

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will encourage medical schools to support the Royal College of Psychiatrists' #ChoosePsychiatry campaign; and what assessment he has made of the psychiatric workforce's capacity to respond to the growing demand for mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Health Education England (HEE) has worked closely with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to develop Stepping Forward to 2020/21: the mental health workforce plan for England, which was published on 31 July 2017. Since 2012, the number of trainee doctors working in mental health settings during their foundation programme has more than doubled, but the expected growth in demand for mental health services means that attracting more United Kingdom medical school graduates into both core and higher psychiatry training is essential. HEE has committed to working with the Royal Colleges, trainees and mental health charities to develop an action plan to attract and retain more clinicians to work in mental health services and psychiatry. This will involve commissioning focus groups and polls of potential and existing trainees so we can better understand the obstacles, increase the support offered to them and increase the profile and attractiveness of careers in mental health.

Cancer: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of improvements to the mental and emotional support available to young people suffering from cancer and to their families.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what improvements the Government has made to the provision of mental and emotional support available to children and young people suffering from cancer and their families since 2010.

Steve Brine: In December 2016, NHS England announced that over £200 million would be made available to Cancer Alliances over the next two years to improve earlier diagnosis and support roll out of the Recovery Package and Stratified follow-up pathways. The Recovery Package has been designed so that patients, including young people, receive personalised care and support from the point they are diagnosed to improve their quality of life. This includes a Holistic Needs Assessment to help patients and clinicians assess a patient’s needs and plan appropriately for their care and ongoing support, including emotional and mental health support. Stratified follow-up pathways allow a more personalised approach to follow-up care after treatment, providing a better experience for patients.

Cancer

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the financial burden on families which are directly affected by cancer.

Steve Brine: The cancer care review, part of the cancer recovery package that is being rolled out across the National Health Service, is carried out within six months of a cancer diagnosis and covers post-treatment support, including the financial impact of cancer and patient awareness of prescription exemptions. Additionally, the Government provides financial safeguards for families that are directly affected by cancer through a range of benefits including Disability Living Allowance for children and young people with critical or serious illnesses; or Personal Independence Payment for those 16 or above; and Employment and Support Allowance for people over 16 who are unable to work. Carers may also qualify for Carer’s Allowance provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

Dental Health: Children and Young People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will benefit from the new oral health programme, Starting Well.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding has been committed so far from the public purse to the new oral health preventative programme, Starting Well.

Steve Brine: NHS England will be holding a number of launch events for Starting Well at the end of September and throughout October following which dental practices will be able to apply to participate in the programme. Funding for this scheme will be provided within existing dental spend. The amount of funding each practice receives will be based on the practice size and level of commitment. It is not currently possible to determine the number of children who will benefit from the programme, this will depend on the number of practices selected to participate at a local level following the launch events.

Endoscopy

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of FIT testing on the capacity of the NHS to perform endoscopy procedures.

Steve Brine: Public Health England, the Department and NHS England continue to work together to agree the thresholds at which faecal immunochemical testing should be set. The decision will consider a number of different factors, including how endoscopy capacity is affected.

Health Professions: Recruitment

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to assess future recruitment needs of the NHS diagnostic workforce to deliver adequate numbers of (a) endoscopists, (b) radiologists, (c) radiographers and (d) pathologists.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Cancer Strategy, published in 2015, outlines the need to expand the diagnostic workforce, as early diagnosis of cancer is crucial to positive patient outcomes. Health Education England has committed to publishing a cancer workforce plan before the end of the calendar year.

Tobacco

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish details of all communications between his Department and the tobacco industry on the Tobacco Control Plan; and what steps he has taken to encourage tobacco companies to engage with the Government in written, as well as oral, form.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Article 5.3 of the FCTC states that “in setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.” The Department has therefore not invited the tobacco industry to contribute to the development of the Tobacco Control Plan. The Government will continue to uphold its obligations under the World Health Organization FCTC.

Transvaginal Mesh Implants

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have suffered complications with transvaginal mesh implants in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: This data is not collected centrally.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on drug rehabilitation services in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Local authorities (LAs) in England are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning services and interventions to meet identified need, using the public health grant. This includes commissioning drug treatment and harm reduction services. Information about the total public health grants for the past five years is published by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Department for Communities and Local Government final returns for local authority spending breakdowns are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing LAs report their expenditure on the public health grant annually to the Department for Communities and Local Government, which includes breakdowns on spend on drug treatment.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that women travelling from Northern Ireland as part of their abortion care are able to receive free access to STI testing and contraception.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 29 June my Rt. hon. Friend the Minister for Women and Equalities (Justine Greening MP) wrote to hon. Members setting out the Government’s intention that women travelling from Northern Ireland for an abortion would no longer have to pay for these procedures. The Government Equalities Office and Department of Health are still developing the details of the scheme, and hope to be able to make a further announcement soon.

Department of Health: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Mr Philip Dunne: Since 2014, the Department has made payments to Behaviour Insights Ltd totalling the following amounts in these calendar years: YearTotal spend (£)201440,28520156,358201643,320

Department of Health: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many of his Department's staff had a pay increase (a) above, (b) at and (c) less than one per cent in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The annual pay award for the delegated grades is subject to HM Treasury Civil Service Pay Guidance. The annual pay arrangements for the senior civil service are based on the outcomes of the Senior Salaries Review Body Report and the Government’s response to its recommendations. The arrangements are applied centrally by Cabinet Office. Both groups of staff are covered by the public sector pay policy of average annual awards of 1%. During the three years, the Department implemented pay awards for each group of staff as follows: Awards for delegated grades for each of the three years were based on 1% of the median salary in each pay grade. This had the effect of applying a slightly higher pay award to those whose salary was below the median compared to those whose salary was above the median, of their respective grade. Overall, an average award of 1% was applied to this group of staff, in each year. For each of the three years, pay awards for senior civil servants were based on an individual’s position in range, with the establishment of break points in each pay band. A higher award was applied to those whose salary was below the respective break point of their pay band. For years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 a lower award was applied to those whose salary exceeded the break point. For 2017/2018 no award was applied to those whose salary exceeded the respective break point. Overall, an average award of 1% as applied to this group of staff, in each year.

Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure cancer waiting time targets are met.

Steve Brine: The National Health Service is meeting six out of eight cancer waiting times standards (June 2017) including ensuring that 93% of patients are seen within two weeks of an urgent general practitioner referral and that 96% of patients receive their first treatment for cancer within 31 days of diagnosis. This is despite 970,000 more people being urgently referred in 2016/17 compared to 2009/10 - an increase of 108%. Achieving the 62-day cancer standard is a key objective in the Government’s Mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 and Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View. NHS England and NHS Improvement are providing support and challenge to those trusts that need to improve their performance against this standard. NHS England has confirmed £200 million of transformation funding to improve cancer services over the next two years. This includes encouraging local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier. Cancer survival rates are at a record high and the NHS has estimated 7,000 more people are surviving cancer after successful NHS cancer treatment compared to three years ago.

Smoking: Prisoners

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many inmates are enrolled on stop smoking courses and treatments.

Steve Brine: The data are not collected at national level in the format requested.

Skin Bleaching

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the marketing of skin bleaching on mental health and wellbeing.

Mr Philip Dunne: We have made no such assessment. The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals make informed and safe choices about cosmetic procedures. Since publication of Sir Bruce Keogh’s Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions, in 2013, we have implemented a number of important measures to that end. These measures include continuation of an extensive programme around body image to help young adults to become more resilient to the pressures that they face. A copy of the 2015 progress report can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/body-confidence-progress-report-2015 The General Medical Council has also published guidance which makes clear the ethical obligations doctors have towards patients and the standards of care they need to provide. The guidance is clear that doctors must market their services responsibly and give patients all the time and information they need so that they can make a voluntary and informed decision about whether to go ahead. A copy of the guidance can be found at the following link:http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/news_consultation/27171.asp

Tobacco

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the publication of Towards a smoke-free generation: a tobacco control plan for England in July 2017 by his Department, if he will (a) create a strategy to reduce the consumption of and (b) publish a report on the consumption of chewing tobacco primarily by South Asian women.

Steve Brine: Towards a smoke free generation: a tobacco control plan for England, sets out national ambitions to further reduce use of all tobacco products across the population in England. We have no plans to produce either a separate strategy to address, or a report on, the consumption of chewing tobacco by South Asian women.

Eating Disorders

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to improve his Department's support for people with eating disorders.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England introduced a new waiting time standard for treatment of eating disorders for children from April 2017. The ambition is that by 2020, 95% of those referred will start treatment within one week if the case is urgent and four weeks if the case is non-urgent. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated clinical guideline for the recognition and treatment of eating disorders for people of all ages in May 2017. It is available at: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng69A pathway for adults with eating disorders, together with detailed implementation guidance for providers, will be developed by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health in partnership with NICE over 2017/18. The pathway will be fully informed by the available evidence and the views of experts.

Women and Equalities

Government Equalities Office: Arms Length External Organisations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what estimate she has made of the number of new arms-length bodies her Department plans to establish once the UK has left the EU.

Nick Gibb: The Department has no plans to establish any new arms-length bodies once the UK has left the EU.

Government Equalities Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much her Department has paid to the Behavioural Insights Team in each year since 2014.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Payments made by the Government Equalities Office for services supplied by the Behavioural Insights Team over this period are in the following table:2014-152015-162016-172017-1800£12,488 (plus VAT)£330 (plus VAT)

Government Equalities Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what services the Government Equalities Office has received from the Behavioural Insights Team since 2014.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government Equalities Office has contracted the Behavioural Improvement Team (BIT) to carry out research over the period from January 2017 until July 2018 into parental decision-making concerning the sharing of childcare responsibilities and return to work. As part of this project, the BIT is also designing interventions to test which factors encourage parents to equalise the gender balance of work and childcare responsibilities.